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GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 



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TRUE STORIES FROM 

NEW ENGLAND HISTORY 

1620-1803 

BY- ~ 

NATHANIEL HAWTHOKNE 

GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

EDITED WITH NOTES AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 

BY 

HOMER H. KINGSLEY 

SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS 



Neto gork 
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd. 
1904 

All rights reserved 



I VffO OODWS RoSdiVM 

OCT 1 1904 
(Jooyrtfht Entry 

OLA83 a XXcW 

//60PYB 






Copyright, 1904, 
Br THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 



Set up and electrotyped. Published October, 1904. 



NorbJooU ?3rcs0 

J. S. Gushing & Co. — Rerwick & Smith Co. 

Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 



^ 



EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 



A BIOGRAPHER of Hawtlioriie says, " To please 
a child is warrant enough for any work." While 
the story of " Grandfather's Chair " is not litera- 
ture in tlie high sense that most of Hawthorne's 
work is, and while he did not claim for this work 
any merit much above hack work, it certainly is 
a most delightful story for the young, and a very 
suggestive work to put into the hands of children 
to open their minds to a view of our early histor}^ 
It is, of course, not comprehensive enough to make 
a complete grammar school history, but it is held 
by many writers on pedagogy that the best intro- 
duction to a study of history is to cultivate in the 
child an historical sense, an appreciation of the 
occurrence, or sequence, of events. This does not 

vii 



viii EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 

need to be clone in a pliilosopliical way so much 
as in a story way, in interesting details, in salient 
events of historic importance. Hawthorne has 
grasped this pedagogical truth in a masterly man- 
ner, and has given us a view of early New Eng- 
land life which is quite ample for the ordinary 
fifth, sixth, or seventh grade pupil before he takes 
up the more serious work of the usual grammar 
school history. The editor has no dogmatic sug- 
gestions as to the best way to use the book ; it 
may be used just 'as reader, letting the pupil 
absorb what he may, or as a more serious study 
in the way of formal recitations, but in his judg- 
ment the best method is to use it simply for its 
value as a story, in the hope that it may inspire 
the young reader with a love for history, make 
him appreciate some of the struggles of his fore- 
fathers, and give him a graphic account of the 
life, difficulties, and environment of early colonial 
days. 



EDITOR^ S INTRODUCTION ix 

The biographictil sketch is considered ample for 
the age of chiklren who will read this book, and 
the notes at the foot of the page are for the most 
part simple interpretations of difficult words or 
expressions, so that by reference to them the ordi- 
nary fifth or sixth grade pupil may read the book 
profitably and intelligently. 

H. H. K. 

EvANSTON, Illinois, 
June, 1904. 



BIOGRAPHY OF HAWTHORNE 

One need not go out of America to find much 
of historic interest. It is true that we cannot 
count the years of our history by as many cen- 
turies as the Englishman can, but nevertheless, in 
many of the New England towns, interesting 
events occurred which date back nearly three 
centuries. Boston, Concord, and Lexington are 
full of spots made historic by our Revolutionary 
War, while Salem is not less intimately connected 
with interesting events of our early history. 

Salem was one of the first places settled in 
Massachusetts, and at one time was the most 
important sea-coast town in America, excelling 
even New York and Boston as a town of com- 
mercial importance. More than a hundred years 
ago this old town was a famous place for fisher- 
men and merchants. From this port vessels 
sailed to all known parts of the world, and the 

xi 



xii BIOGRAPHY OF HAWTHORNE 

sailors and fishermen brought home wonderful 
stories of foreign lands. Here they landed their 
cargoes of fish and whale oil ; here AA^as the home 
of Roger Williams, a young minister Avho was 
afterwards banished from Massachusetts because 
he preached doctrines Avliich the officers did not 
like ; here was the place where a little over tAvo 
hundred years ago nearly a score of men and 
women Avere hanged for witchcraft. If you 
should visit Salem to-day, you would find many 
interesting things connected Avith its early his- 
tory. You would find the First Church, the 
church in Avhich Roger Williams once preached, 
and the house in Avhich he lived. The church is 
a small square building, not much larger than a 
room in one of our modern houses. It is filled 
Avith curious pieces of old furniture and house- 
hold articles, spinning Avheels, reels, old clocks, 
and musical instruments. In Salem you would 
also find museums filled Avith rare collections of 
curiosities brought home by sailors on their trips 
to and from the far east. In the Court House, 
you Avould find carefully sealed up in a bottle a 



BIOGRAPHY OF HAWTHORNE xiii 

number of iron pins which it is said were found 
sticking in the bodies of people who were said to 
be bewitched. Here also you would find books 
filled with the testimony given by the witches and 
their accusers at the trials. In Salem are also old 
cemeteries where you may read on the tombstones 
names of famous men, or names of men made 
famous by the writings of such men as the author 
of this little book. You would also visit Witch 
Hill, a low hill on the outskirts of the town as 
bare and desolate now as when the witches stood 
upon the gallows erected upon its crest. You 
would find charming streets overarched with 
elms, centuries old, through which processions 
marched on their way to Witch Hill, dragging 
some poor victim behind a cart to the scene of 
execution. 

One interesting old house which all visitors to 
Salem have pointed out to them is known as 
No. 21, Union Street. It is a gambrel-roofed 
house, long and low, and close upon the street. 
If you had been walking by this house just one 
hundred years ago on the 4th of July, you might 



XIV BIOGRAPHY OF HAWTHORNE 

have heard a wee baby's voice objecting to his 
very first bath. This voice belonged to Nathaniel 
Hawthorne, who was born in this house July 4, 
1804, as a tablet on the house plainly states. 

It might naturally be thought that a boy who 
was born among such surroundings would be a 
boy much given to dreaming and imagination, 
and we are told that Nathaniel was a shy boy, and 
that all his life he dreaded to meet people, espe- 
cially people who, like himself, were devoted to 
literature. He liked to be alone, to wander off 
by himself in the company of birds and animals, 
and even when at home it was a common thing 
for him to stay whole days in his room, and not 
be seen by members of his own family for several 
days at a time. His meals would be brought to 
his room and left outside of his locked door. 
Nathaniel's father, who was a ship captain, had 
died while on a trip to South America, when the 
lad was four years old, and after this, his mother, 
on account of her grief, had shut herself up in her 
room, and was rarely seen by her neighbors, or 
even the members of her family, throughout the 



BIOGRAPHY OF HAWTHORNE xv 

greater part of her remaining life. There is no 
doubt that her own retirement was responsible in 
a larg-e decree for Nathaniel's love of solitude. 

When Nathaniel was nine years old, he was 
hurt while playing ball. On account of this 
accident, for the next three years he could not 
run and play like other boys, and so was denied 
many of the good times and much of the pleasant 
companionship of other lads. He attended the 
public schools very little, but during these years 
of lameness he was educated at home by private 
teachers. The man who was his first master 
was a great and successful teacher, Dr. Joseph 
Worcester, who afterward made a dictionary of 
the Englisli language. If we may believe what 
Nathaniel himself said, he did not like to go to 
scliool as a boy, aaid so it was probably no hard- 
ship when the family decided in 1813 to move to 
Maine, Avhere tlie boy's uncles held large tracts 
of land. They lived on the banks of Sebago 
Lake, a body of water about eight miles wide 
and fourteen miles long. Here certainly was 
solitude enough for the lad, as there was really 



XVI BIOGRAPHY OF HAWTHORXE 

no settlement there except a mill, a store, and a 
few cabins such as lumbermen live in. He could, 
however, see the White Mountains, and perhaps 
this is where he received his first inspiration to 
write those delightful stories of the White Hills, 
which children always read with so much pleasure 
and interest. At Sebago Lake, he hunted, swam, 
fished, rowed, and roamed the woods as much as 
his lameness would allow, and sometimes on his 
walks he would come to a deserted cabin, and 
slating down in a corner and watching the sky 
thro, gh the chimney hole, he would dream out 
tlios3 wonderful stories which he afterward wrote 
foi the deliglit of boys and girls. He read much 
while in Maine, but his reading Avas largely from 
Shakespeare, '' Pilgrim's Progress," and old Eng- 
lish novels. 

Nathaniel loved his free life in Maine intensely ; 
he could wander and dream as he wished, and he 
was very much disappointed when it was deter- 
mined that the family should go back to Salem. 
Nathaniel had been sent back to Salem in 1818, to 
take up such studies as would prepare him for 



BIOGRAPHY OF HAWTHORNE xvii 

college. After he returned to Salem, he tells us 
in one of his letters to his mother that he dreamed 
one night that he was back at Sebago Lake, and 
when he awoke and found that he was not, he 
was so angry that he gave his Uncle Robert, with 
whom he was sleeping, a " horrible kick " in the 
back. His preparation for college was not differ- 
ent from that of any other boy of his time, and 
by the year 1821 he was ready to enter college. 
Up to this time he had written nothing of impor- 
tance, but he was evidently planning somethings,' 
for in a letter which he wrote to his mother^ rjnSt 
.as he was entering college, he said he did not 
wish to become a physician, preacher, or law/et, 
but wondered if perhaps he might not be success- 
ful as a writer. ' The college which he selected 
was Bowdoin, in Maine. He spent the four years 
there from 1821 to 1825, graduating in the latter 
year. Among his college mates were two young 
men who afterward became famous in our history. 
One was Franklin Pierce, a president of the 
United States, and the other, Henry Wadsworth 
Longfellow. Hawthorne's college work does not 



XVlll BIOGRAPHY OF HAWTHORNE 

seem to have been taken very seriously, and it is 
evident from his letters that he was quite given 
to students' frolics and fun. However, his work 
was of so high a character, that he was entitled 
to a place on the commencement programme, but 
he denied himself this honor because of his timid- 
ity, for he refused to speak, or declaim, in public. 
Like so many great literary men, he disliked 
mathematics very much, but excelled in English 
and Latin. 

After graduating he spent the next twelve or 
fourteen years at his mother's house in Salem. 
He wrote much during this period, but so care-.' 
fully did he keep himself out of sight that even 
his neighbors did not know that there was such a 
person in the family. In these years he wrote a 
book called ''Seven Stories of my Native Land," 
but after applying to seventeen publishers to 
publish the work, all of whom refused it, he 
withdrew it, and afterward burned it. Later he 
wrote a book called '' Fanshawe." In order to 
be sure of having this published, he hired a pub- 
lisher, paying him one hundred dollars for bring- 



BIOGRAPHY OF HAWTHORNE xix 

ingf out the work, but the book was a faUure. 
Only a few copies were sold, and Hawthorne was 
so depressed by the failure that he called in the 
entire edition so far as he could, and burned it. 
Not all of the copies were burned, however, and 
later, after Hawthorne's death, the book was 
republished. It is probably read more now be- 
cause it was Hawthorne's first published book, 
than on account of any special merit or interest 
in the book itself. Many great men have fre- 
quently spent long periods of time in seclusion. 
Hawthorne was no exception to this rule, and 
during these fourteen years, although he did not 
publish very much, he was doubtless planning, 
imagining, and developing, and storing up the 
energy that was to show itself later in the great 
works of which he was to become the author. 
In 1837 he published his "Twice-told Tales," 
and Longfellow's kind words about the book 
were the first real encouragement that Hawthorne 
had ever received to give his time wholly to 
literature. 

Hawthorne became engaged to Miss Sopliia 



XX BIOGRAPHY OF IIAWTHORKE 

Peabody in 1839, and since the income from his 
writings was not hirge enough to live upon, he 
accepted a position in the Boston Custom House 
as Weigher and Ganger. This position required 
him to work in disagreeable quarters among 
rough and uncouth men, and often down in the 
hulls of ships, amid all sorts of crude merchandise 
and among offensive sights and smells. His 
salary was twelve hundred dollars a year, but he 
was glad to get it, as his work would allow him a 
certain amount of leisure, which could be given to 
writing, while he was sure of a fixed income. 
He seems to have looked forward with much 
pleasure to this work, but he soon tired of it. 
He worked hard, kept long hours, and as the 
wages of the wharf laborers depended upon the 
length of their days, Hawthorne always made it 
a practice to be on hand early in the morning 
so that these workers might not lose any of their 
wages on account of his neglect. After two 
years here, Hawthorne gave up his position, and 
went to live at Brook Farm, a place a few miles 
southwest of Boston. This was in 1841. The 



BIOGRAPHY OF HAWTHORNE XXl 

Brook Farm community was made up of a num- 
ber of prominent people of Boston and vicinity, 
who thought that they would establish a commu- 
nity where all of the members should work for 
the same number of liours a day, all receive the 
same pay, all eat at the same table and have tlie 
same food. There were many other interesting 
things about this life which you will read about 
when you are older. Hawthorne wrote some very 
deligJitful letters, giving an account of his life 
here, and several years afterward he wrote a book 
called "The Blithedale Romance," which is an 
account of his life and experiences and associa- 
tions with the other distinguished men of the 
community during the two years he remained 
there. It was while living at Brook Farm that 
he wrote " Grandfather's Chair," the book you 
are about to read. 

Hawthorne was married in 1842, left Brook 
Farm, and went to live in Concord. Here he 
occupied the house known as the Old Manse. He 
remained here for four years, living a quiet and 
domestic life, but did not receive much from his 



xxii . BIOGRAPHY OF HAWTHORNE 

writings. However, while living here he wrote 
" Mosses from an Old Manse," a book which is 
fnll of delight for old and young alike. In 1846 
some of his friends interested themselves in secur- 
ing for Hawthorne an appointment to the position 
of Surveyor of the Salem Custom House. He 
held this position for three years, but he was not 
a popular officer, as the merchants and business 
men who had occasion to use the custom house 
disliked him very much. He would not myigle 
with them in a pleasant Avay, but held himself 
apart from them, and was regarded by them as 
cold and unlovable. By the efforts of these men 
he lost his position in the custom house in 1849. 
It was about this time that he received a visit 
from Mr. James T. Fields, a prominent publisher 
of Boston. Hawthorne was left practically penni- 
less when he was dismissed from the custom house, 
and Fields had visited him to see if he had not 
written something which could be published 
whereby Hawthorne might receive the needed 
money. 

Mr. Fields gives the following very interesting 



BIOGRAPHY OF HAWTHORNE xxiil 

account of his vi>sit : " I found Hawthorne alone 
in a chamber over the sitting-room of the dwelling, 
and, as the day was cold, he was hovering near a 
stove. We fell into talk about his future pros- 
pects ; and he was, as I feared I should hnd him, 
in a very desponding mood. 'Now,' said I, 'is 
the time for you to publish ; for I know during 
these years in Salem you must have got something 
ready for the press.' ' Nonsense ! ' said he ; ' what 
heart had I to write anything, when my publish- 
ers, Monroe & Company, have been so many years 
trying to sell a small edition of the '' Twice-told 
Tales " ? ' I still pressed upon him the good chances 
he would have with something new. ' Who would 
risk publishing a book for me, the most unpopular 
writer in America ? ' 'I would,' said I, ' and 
would start with an edition of two thousand cop- 
ies of anything you write.' ' What madness ! ' he 
exclaimed. ' Your friendship for me gets the bet- 
ter of your judgment. No, no,' he continued, ' I 
have no money to indemnify a publisher's losses 
on my account.' I looked at my watch, and found 
that the train would soon be starting for Boston ; 



XXIV BIOGRAPHY OF HAWTHORNE 

and I knew there was not much time to lose in 
trying to discover what had been his literary work 
during these last few years in Salem. I remem- 
ber I pressed him to reveal to me what he had 
been writing. He shook his head, and gave me 
to understand he had produced nothing. At that 
moment I caught sight of a bureau, or chest of 
drawers, near where I was sitting, and immedi- 
ately it occurred to me that hidden away some- 
where in that article of furniture was a story or 
stories by the author of ' Twice-told Tales ' ; and I 
became so positive of it that I charged him vehe- 
mently with the fact. He seemed surprised, I 
thought, but shook his liead again. ... I was 
hurrying downstairs when he called after me 
from the chamber, asking me to stop a moment. 
Then quickly stepping into the entry with a roll 
of manuscript in his hands, he said: 'How in 
Heaven's name did you know this thing was there ? 
As you have found me out, take what I have writ- 
ten and tell me, after you get home and have read 
it, if it is good for anything. It is either very 
good or very bad, I do not know which.' " This 



BIOGRAPHY OF HAWTHORNE XXV 

story illustrates what has already been said about 
Hawthorne's shyness and his lack of conlidence in 
himself to do any really valuable work, but the 
manuscript which he placed in Mr. Fields's hands 
was the best piece of work that Hawthorne ever 
did, and is regarded by many as the greatest novel 
ever produced in America, for it was his famous 
"Scarlet Letter." However, in the introduction 
to this book he wrote an account of the custom 
house, in which he spoke slightingly of some of 
the citizens of Salem. This was so offensive to 
many of the inhabitants of the town that it added 
still more to his unpopularity, and he made up his 
mind to move away from Salem, which he did in 
1850, going to Lenox, in western Massachusetts, 
among the Berkshire Hills. One would think 
that among these beautiful hills and amid such 
delightful scenery HaAvthorne might have found 
great inspiration to write, but he says himself, " I 
do not feel at home among these hills, and should 
not like to consider myself permanently settled 
here," and again he said that he could not write 
unless inspired by the autumn foliage on the hill- 



XXVI BIOGRAPHY OF HAWTHORNE 

sides. In the year and a half his home was in 
Lenox he wrote '*• The House of Seven Gables." 
Later he said in a letter to a friend, '^ I am sick to 
death of Berkshire, and hate to think of spending 
another winter here." Accordingly, in the winter 
of 1851 he moved to West Newton, a suburb of 
Boston, not far from the scene of his Brook Farm 
experiences. It was here that he planned and 
began to write "The Blithedale Romance," of which 
we have already spoken. He remained but a few 
months in West Newton, and in June of 1852 he 
bought a home in Concord which he named " The 
Wayside." Several years later Hawthorne had a 
towerlike room built on the top of the house for 
a study. Back of the house, covered with pine 
trees, is a high ridge, and here he used to walk 
alone, thinking out his stories. .The house stands 
to-day much as Hawthorne left it, and it, together 
with the gloomy walk on the ridge and the Old 
Manse, are among the spots in Concord that every 
stranger wishes to Adsit. While living at '' The 
Wayside," Hawthorne finished "The Blithedale 
Romance," and wrote " The Wonder-Book," which 



BIOGRAPHY OF HAWTHORNE xxvii 

is so full of interest to all children, and which you 
may already have read. We have spoken of his ac- 
quaintance with Franklin Pierce. Pierce was this 
3^ear elected President of the United States, and 
wishing some one to write his biography, Haw- 
thorne was selected, and completed the work in 
the summer of 1852. In the early part of the 
next year, 1853, he published '' Tangle wood Tales," 
stories very much like those of "The Wonder- 
Book." In March he was appointed to an important 
position in Liverpool, and in July he sailed with his 
family to England, and lived abroad for seven 
years. During the first four years abroad he was 
attending to the duties of his position in Liver- 
pool, but resigned in 1857 to travel and live on 
the continent. Here he visited Italy, lived in 
Rome and Florence, where he collected material 
for one of his well-known novels, " The Marble 
Faun." He returned to England in 1859, and 
lived a time in London, where he finished " The 
Marble Faun," and in June of 1860 he returned to 
his home in Concord. Owing to sickness in his 
family Avhile living in Italy, his own health had 



XXVlll BIOGRAPHY OF HAWTHORNE 

been somewhat broken, and after his return to 
America, he was not able to do much severe work. 
He seems to have lost interest and enthusiasm for 
literary work, and was much depressed by the 
breaking out of the Civil War. He visited Wash- 
ington in the early years of the war, and wrote 
one article for the Atlantic Monthly^ " Chiefly 
about War Matters." Like a great many men of 
that time he was not quite sure whether the gov- 
ernment was in the right or not in the war, and in 
this article lie said some things about Mr. Lincoln 
which were so unjust and so unkind that the Atlan- 
tic Monthly would not publish them, but in saying 
these things, Hawthorne was saying only what 
many other men had said and thought, for they 
did not see at that time how great and wise a man 
Mr. Lincoln was. Hawthorne's health was now 
failing, and he found it hard to write, but he was 
working as fast as he could on a story which he 
called ''The Dolliver Romance." He never com- 
pleted this work, but while still at work on it, a 
carriage trip through the beautiful hill country 
of New England was planned in the hope that it 



BIOGRAPHY OF HAWTHORNE xxix 

would improve Hawthorne's health as well as his 
spirits. He was to go with JNlr. Pierce. He left 
Boston May 11 for Concord, New Hampshire, 
where the carriage trip was to begin. They trav- 
elled only a few days, as Hawthorne's condition 
grew rapidly worse, and on the night of May 18, 
wdiile stopping at Plymouth, New Hampshire, 
Hawthorne fell asleep, and never awoke. 

He was buried May 24 in Sleepy Hollow ceme- 
ter}^, at Concord, and was followed to his grave by 
many of the most distinguished literary men of 
his day, among whom were Longfellow, Lowell, 
Emerson, and Holmes, and his grave lies near 
those of Emerson, Thoreau, and Louisa Alcott, 
and is visited yearly by tens of thousands of ad- 
mirers who wish to see the last resting-place of 
America's greatest novelist. 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE 

In writing this ponderous tome, the author's 
desire has been to describe the eminent characters 
and remarkable events of our annals in such a 
form and style that the young may make ac- 
quaintance with them of their own accord. For 
this 2)urpose, while ostensibly relating the adven- 
tures of a chair, he has endeavored to keep a dis- 
tinct and unbroken thread of authentic history. 
The chair is made to pass from one to another of 
those personages of whom he thought it most 
desirable for the young reader to have vivid and 
familiar ideas, and whose lives and actions would 
best enable him to give picturesque sketches of 
the times. On its sturdy oaken legs it trudges 
diligently from one scene to another, and seems 
always to thrust itself in the way, with most benign 

XXX 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE xxxi 

complacency, whenever an historical personage 
happens to be looking round for a seat. 

There is certainly no method by which the 
shadowy outlines of departed men and women can 
be made to assume the hues of life more effectually 
than by connecting their images with the substan- 
tial and homely reality of a fireside chair. It 
causes us to feel at once that these characters of 
history had a private and familiar existence, and 
were not wholly contained within that cold array 
of outward action which we are compelled to 
receive as the adequate representation of their 
lives. If this impression can be given, much is 
accomplished. 

Setting aside Grandfather and his auditors, and 
excepting the adventures of the chair, which form 
tlie machinery of the work, nothing in the ensuing 
pages can be termed fictitious. The author, it is 
true, has sometimes assumed the license of filling 
up the outline of history with details for which 
he has none but imaginative authority, but which, 
he hopes, do not violate nor give a false coloring 
to the truth. He believes that, in this respect. 



xxxii AUTHOR^ S PREFACE 

his narrative will not be found to convey ideas 
and impressions of which the reader may here- 
after find it necessary to purge his mind. 

The author's great doubt is, whether he has suc- 
ceeded in writing a book which Avill be readable 
by the class for whom he intends it. To make a 
lively and entertaining narrative for children, with 
such un malleable material as is presented by the 
sombre, stern, and rigid characteristics of the Puri- 
tans and their descendants, is quite as difficult an 
attempt as to manufacture delicate playthings out 
of the granite rocks on which New England is 
founded. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 



CHAPTER I 

Grandfather had been sitting in his old arm- 
chair all that pleasant afternoon, while the children 
were pursuing their various sports far off or near 
at hand. Sometimes you would have said, " Grand- 
father is asleep ; " but still, even when his eyes 
were closed, his thoughts were with the young 
people, playing among the flowers and shrubbery 
of the garden. 

He heard the voice of Laurence, who had taken 
possession of a heap of decayed branches which the k 
gardener had lopped from the fruit-trees, and was 
building a little hut for his cousin Clara and him- 
self. He heard Clara's gladsome voice, too, as she " 
weeded and watered the flower-bed which had been 
given her for her own. He could have counted 
every footstep that Charley took, as lie trundled his 



2 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

wheelbarrow along the gravel- walk. And though 
Grandfather was old and gray-haired, yet his heart 
leaped with joy whenever little Alice came flatter- 
ing, like a butterfly, into the room. She had made 
each of the children her playmate in turn, and now 
made Grandfather her playmate too, and thought 
him the merriest of them all. 

At last the children grew weary of their sports ; 
because a summer afternoon is like a long lifetime 
10 to the young. So they came into the room to- 
gether, and clustered round Grandfather's great 
chair. Little Alice, who was hardly five years old, 
took the privilege of the youngest, and climbed his 
knee. It was a pleasant thing to behold that fair 
and golden-haired child in the lap of the old man, 
and to think that, different as they were, the hearts 
of both could be gladdened with the same joys. 

" Grandfather," said little Alice, laying her head 
back npon his arm, "I am very tired now. You 
20 must tell me a story to make me go to sleejD." 

" That is not what story-tellers like," answered 
Grandfather, smiling. " They are better satisfied 
when they can keep their auditors awake." 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 3 

" But here are Laurence, and Charley, and I," 
cried cousin Clara, who was twice as old as little 
Alice. " We will all three keep wide awake. 
And pray. Grandfather, tell us a story about this 
strange-looking old chair." 

Now, the chair in which Grandfather sat was 
made of oak, Avhich had grown dark with age, but 
had been rubbed and polished till it shone as 
bright as mahogany. It was very large and heavy, 
and had a back that rose high above Grandfather's lo 
white head. This back was curiously carved in 
open work, so as to represent flowers, and foliage, 
and other devices, which the children had often 
gazed at, but could never understand what they 
meant. On the very tip-top of the chair, over the 
head of Grandfather himself, was a likeness of a 
lion's head,^ which had such a savage grin that you 
would almost expect to hear it growl and snarl. 

The children had seen Grandfather sitting in 
this chair ever since they could remember any- 20 

1 Lion's head : the lion is the symbol*of English power, and 
so it was used very frequently as an ornament carved on furni- 
ture, etc. 



4 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

thing. Perhaps the younger of them supposed 
that he and the chair had come into the world 
together, and that both had always been as old as 
they were now. At this time, however, it hap- 
pened to be the fashion for ladies to adorn their 
drawing-rooms with the oldest and oddest chairs 
that could be found. It seemed to cousin Clara 
that, if these ladies could have seen Grandfather's 
old chair, they would have thought it worth all 
10 the rest together. She wondered if it were not 
even older than Grandfather himself, and longed 
to know all about its history. 

" Do, Grandfather, talk to us about this chair," 
she repeated. 

" Well, child," said Grandfather, patting Clara's 
cheek, " I can tell you a great many stories of my 
chair. Perhaps your cousin Laurence would like 
to hear them too. They would teach him some- 
thing about the history and distinguished people 
20 of his country which he has never read in any of 
his schoolbooks." 

Cousin Laurence was a boy of twelve, a bright 
scholar, in whom an early thoughtfulness and sen si- 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 5 

bility began to show themselves. His young fancy 
kindled at the idea of knowing all the adventures 
of this venerable chair. He looked eagerly in 
Grandfather's face ; and even Charley, a bold, 
brisk, restless little fellow of nine, sat himself 
down on the carpet, and resolved to be quiet for 
at least ten minutes, should the story last so long. 
Meantime, little Alice was already asleep ; so 
Grandfather, being much pleased with such an 
attentive audience, began to talk about matters lo 
that happened long ago. 



CHAPTER II 

But before relating the adventures of the chair, 
Grandfather found it necessary to speak of cir- 
cumstances that caused the first settlement of New 
England. For it will soon be perceived that the 
story of this remarkable chair cannot be told 
without telling a great deal of the history of the 
country. 

So Grandfather talked about the Puritans, as 
those persons were called who thought it sinful 
10 to practise certain religious forms and ceremonies 
of the Church of England. These Puritans suf- 
fered so much persecution in England, that, in 
1607, many of them went over to Holland, and 
lived ten or twelve years at Amsterdam and Ley- 
den. But they feared that, if they continued 
there much longer, they should cease to be Eng- 
lish, and should adopt all the manners, and ideas, 
and feelings of the Dutch. For this and other 
reasons, in the year 1620 they embarked on board 

6 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 7 

the ship Mayflower^ and crossed the ocean, to the 
shores of Cape Cod. There they made a settle- 
ment, and called it Plymouth, which, though now 
a part of Massachusetts, was for a long time a 
colony by itself. And thus was formed the earliest 
settlement of the Puritans in America. 

Meantime, those of the Puritans who remained 
in England continued to suffer grievous persecu- 
tion on account of their religious opinions. They 
began to look around them for some spot where lo 
they might worship God, not as the king and 
bishops thought fit, but according to the dictates 
of their own consciences.^ When their brethren 
had gone from Holland to America, they bethought 
themselves that they likewise might find refuge 
from persecution there. Several gentlemen among 
them purchased a tract of country on the coast of 
Massachusetts Bay, and obtained a charter ^ from 

^ According to what they thought was right in their own 
minds. 

2 A charter was a written statement from the king, giving 
tlie people certain rights in regard to making laws and electing 
officers. 



8 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

King Charles, which authorized them to make laws 
for the settlers. In the year 1628 they sent over 
a few people, with John Endicott at their head, to 
commence a j)lantation at Salem. Peter Palfrey, 
Roger Conant, and one or two more had built 
houses there in 1626, and may be considered as 
the first settlers of that ancient town. Many 
other Puritans prepared to follow Endicott. 
" And now we come to the chair, my dear chil- 

10 dren," said Grandfather. " This chair is supposed 
to have been made of an oak tree which grew in 
the park of the English Earl of Lincoln between 
two and three centuries ago. In its younger days 
it used, probably, to stand in the hall of the earl's 
castle. Do not you see the coat of arms of the 
family of Lincoln carved in the open Avork of the 
back? But when his daughter, the Lady Arbella, 
was married to a certain Mr. Johnson, the earl 
gave her this valuable chair." 

2o "Who was Mr. Johnson?" inquired Clara. 

" He was a gentleman of great wealth, who 
agreed with the Puritans in their religious opin- 
ions," answered Grandfather. " And as his belief 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 9 

was the same as theirs, he resolved that he would 
live and die with them. Accordingly, in the 
month of April, 1630, he left his pleasant abode 
and all his comforts in England, and embarked, 
with Lady Arbella, on board of a ship bound for 
America." 

As Grandfather was frequently impeded by the 
questions and observations of his young auditors, 
we deem it advisable to omit all such prattle as is 
not essential to the story. We have taken some lo 
pains to find out exactly what Grandfather said, 
and here offer to our readers, as nearly as possible 
in his own words, the story of 

THE LADY ARBELLA 

The ship in which Mr. Johnson and his lady 
embarked, taking Grandfather's chair along with 
them, was called the Arbella, in honor of the lady 
herself. A fleet of ten or twelve vessels, with 
many hundred passengers, left England about the 
same time ; for a multitude of people, who were 
discontented with the king's government and 20 



10 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

oppressed by the bishops, were flocking over to the 
New World. One of the vessels in the fleet was 
that same Mayfloiver which had carried the Puritan 
Pilgrims to Plymouth. And now, my children, I 
would have you fancy yourselves in the cabin of 
the good ship Arhella : because, if you could be- 
hold the passengers aboard that vessel, 3^ou would 
feel what a blessing and honor it was for New 
England to have such settlers. They were the 

10 best men and women of their day. 

Among the passengers was John Winthrop, who 
had sold the estate of the forefathers, and was go- 
ing to prepare a new home for his wife and children 
in the wilderness. He had the king's charter in 
his keeping, and was appointed the first governor 
of Massachusetts. Imagine him a person of gravp 
and benevolent aspect, dressed in a black velvet 
suit, with a broad ruff around his • neck, and a 
peaked beard upon his chin. There was likewise 

20 a minister of the gospel whom the English bishops 
had forbidden to preach, but who knew that he 
should have liberty both to preach and pray in the 
forests of America. He wore a black cloak, called 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 11 

a Geneva cloak, and had a black velvet cap, fitting 
close to liis head,^ as was the fashion of almost all 
the Puritan clergymen. In their company came 
Sir Richard Saltonstall, who had been one of the 
five first projectors ^ of the new colony. He soon 
returned to his native country. But his descend- 
ants still remain in New England ; and the good 
old family name is as much respected in our days 
as it was in those of Sir Richard. 

Not only these, but several other men of wealth lo 
and pious ministers were in the cabin of the 
Arhella. One had banished himself forever from 
the old hall where his ancestors had lived for 
hundreds of years. Another had left his quiet 
parsonage, in a country town of England. Others 
• had come from the Universities of Oxford or 
Cambridge, where they had gained great fame for 
their learning. And here they all were, tossing 

1 The Puritans as a class used to have their hair cut close to 
their heads. In consequence of this, when they took arms 
against King Charles I, about 1641, they were called Round- 
heads. The Cavaliers, the party which sided with the king, 
wore long, curly hair. 

'^ Projector : one who plans. 



12 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

upon the uncertain and dangerous sea, and bound 
for a home that was more dangerous than even the 
sea itself. In the cabin, likewise, sat the Lady 
Arbella in her chair, with a gentle and sweet 
expression on her face, but looking too pale and 
feeble to endure the hardships of the wilderness. 
Every morning and evening the Lady Arbella 
gave up her great chair to one of the ministers, 
who took his place in it and read passages from 

rothe Bible to his companions. And thus, with 
prayers, and pious conversation, and frequent sing- 
ing of hymns, which the breezes caught from their 
lips and scattered far over the desolate waves, they 
prosecuted their voyage, and sailed into the harbor 
of Salem in the month of June. 

At that period there were but six or eight 
dwellings in the town ; and these were miserable 
hovels, with roofs of straw and wooden chimneys. 
The passengers in the fleet either built huts with 

20 bark and branches of trees, or erected tents of 
cloth till they could provide themselves with 
better shelter. Many of them went to form a 
settlement at Charlestown. It was thought fit 



GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 13 

that the Lady Arbella should tarry in Salem for a 
time : she was probably received as a guest into 
the family of John Endicott. He was the chief 
person in the plantation, and had the only com- 
fortable house which the newcomers had beheld 
since they left England. So now, children, you 
must imagine Grandfather's chair in the midst of 
a new scene. 

Suppose it a hot summer's day, and the lattice- 
windows of a chamber in Mr. Endicott's house lo 
thrown wide open. The Lady Arbella, looking 
paler than she did on shipboard, is sitting in her 
chair and thinking mournfully of far-off England. 
She rises and goes to the window. There, amid 
patches of garden ground and corn-field, she sees 
the few wretched hovels of the settlers, with the 
still ruder wigwams and cloth tents of the passen- 
gers who had arrived in the same fleet with her- 
self. Far and near stretches the dismal forest of 
pine-trees, which throw their black shadows over 20 
the whole land, and likewise over the heart of this 
poor lady. 

All the inhabitants of the little village are busy. 



« 
1 



14 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

One is clearing a spot on the verge of the forest 
for his homestead ; another is hewing the trunk 
of a fallen pine-tree, in order to build himself a 
dwelling ; a third is hoeing in his field of Indian 
corn. Here comes a huntsman out of the woods, 
dragging a bear which he has shot, and shouting 
to the neighbors to lend him a hand. There goes 
a man to the sea-shore, with a spade and a bucket, 
to dig a mess of clams, which were a principal 

10 article of food with the first settlers. Scattered 
here and there are two or three dusky figures, clad 
in mantles of fur, with ornaments of bone hanging 
from their ears, and the feathers of wild birds in 
their coal-black hair. They have belts of shell- 
work slung across their shoulders, and are armed 
with bows and arrows and flint-headed spears. 
These are an Indian sagamore^ and his attendants, 
who have come to gaze at the labors of the white 
men. And now rises a cry that a pack of wolves 

20 have seized a young calf in the pasture; and 
every man snatches up his gun or pike and runs in 
chase of the marauding beasts. 
1 Sasramore : chief. 



. GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 15 

Poor Lady Arbella watches all these sights, and 
feels that this New World is fit only for rough and 
hardy people. None should be here but those who 
can struggle with wild beasts and wild men, and 
can toil in the heat or cold, . and can keep their 
hearts firm as^ainst all difficulties and danofers. 
But she is not one of these. Her gentle and timid 
spirit sinks within her ; and, turning away from 
the window, she sits down in the great chair and 
wonders whereabouts in the wilderness her friends lo 
will dig her grave. 

Mr. Johnson had gone, with Governor Win- 
throp and most of the other passengers, to Boston, 
where he intended to build a house for Lady 
Arbella and himself. Boston was then covered 
with wild woods, and had fewer inhabitants, even, 
than Salem. During her husband's absence, poor 
Lady Arbella felt herself growing ill, and was 
hardly able to stir from the great chair. Whenever 
John Endicott noticed her despondency, he doubt- 20 
less addressed her with words of comfort. "Cheer 
up, my good lady I " he would say. " In a little 
time, you will love this rude life of the wilderness 



16 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

as I do." But Endicott's heart was as bold and 
resolute as iron, and he could not understand why 
a woman's heart should not be of iron too. 

Still, however, he spoke kindly to the lady, and 
then hastened forth to till his corn-field and set 
out fruit-trees, or to bargain with the Indians for 
furs, or perchance to oversee the building of a fort. 
Also, being a magistrate, he had often to punish 
some idler or evil doer, by ordering him to be set 

10 in the stocks or scourged at the whipping-post. 
Often, too, as was the custom of the times, he 
and Mr. Higginson, the minister of Salem, held 
long religious talks together. Thus John Endi- 
cott was a man of multifarious ^ business, and had 
no time to look back reg^retfullv to his native land. 
He felt himself fit for the New World and for the 
work that he had to do, and set himself resolutely 
to accomplish it. 

What a contrast, my dear children, between this 

20 bold, rough, active man, and the gentle Lady 
Arbella, who was fading away, like a pale Eng- 
lish flower, in the shadow of the forest ! And now 
1 Multifarious : many kinds of. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 17 

the great chair was often empty, because Lady 
Arbelhi grew too weak to arise from bed. 

Meantime, her husband had pitched upon a 
spot for their new home. He returned from 
Boston to Salem, travelling through the woods 
on foot, and leaning on his pilgrim's staff. His 
heart yearned within him ; for he was eager to 
tell his wife of the new home which he had chosen. 
But when he beheld her pale and hollow cheek, and 
found how her strength was wasted, he must have lo 
known that her appointed home was in a better 
land. Happy for him then — happy both for him 
and her — if they had remembered that there was 
a path to heaven, as well from this heathen wilder- 
ness as from the Christian land whence they had 
come. And so, in one short month from her 
arrival, the gentle Lady Arbella faded away and 
died. They dug a grave for her in the new soil, 
where the roots of the pine-trees impeded their 
spades ; and when her bones had rested there 20 
nearly two hundred years, and a city had sprung 
around them, a church of stone was built upon 
the spot. 



18 GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 

Charley, almost at the commencement of the 
foregoing narrative, had galloped away, with a 
prodigious clatter, upon Grandfather's stick, and 
was not yet returned. So large a boy should have 
been ashamed to ride upon a stick. But Laurence 
and Clara had listened attentively and were af- 
fected by this true story of the gentle lady who 
had come so far to die so soon. Grandfather had 
supposed that little Alice was asleep ; but tow- 
loards the close of the story, happening to look 
down upon her, he saw that her blue eyes were 
wide open, and fixed earnestly upon his face. 
The tears had gathered in them, like dew upon a 
delicate flower ; but when Grandfather ceased to 
speak, the sunshine of her smile broke forth again. 

" Oh, the lady must have been so glad to get to 
heaven ! " exclaimed little Alice. 

" Grandfather, what became of Mr. Johnson ? '' 
asked Clara. 
20 " His heart appears to have been quite broken," 
answered Grandfather ; " for he died at Boston 
within a month after the death of his wife. He 
was buried in tlie very same tract of ground 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 19 

where he had intended to build a dwelling for 
Lady Arbella and himself. Wliere their house 
would have stood, there was his grave." 

" I never heard anything so melancholy," said 
Clara. 

'' The people loved and respected Mr. Johnson 
so much," continued Grandfather, " that it was the 
last request of many of them, when they died, that 
they might be buried as near as possible to this 
good man's grave. And so the field became the first lo 
burial-ground in Boston. When you pass through 
Tremont Street, along by King's Chapel, you see a 
burial-ground, containing many old grave-stones 
and monuments. That was Mr. Johnson's field." 

" How sad is the thought," observed Clara, 
" that one of the first things which the settlers had 
to do, when they came to the New World, was to 
set apart a burial-ground ! " 

" Perhaps," said Laurence, " if they had found 
no need of burial-grounds here, they would have 20 
been glad, after a few years, to go back to England." 

Grandfather looked at Laurence, to discover 
whether he knew how profound and true a thing 
he had said. 



CHAPTER III 

Not long after Grandfather had told the story 
of his great chair, there chanced to be a rainy day. 
Our friend Charley, after disturbing the house- 
hold with beat of drum and riotous shouts, races 
up and down the staircase, overturning of chairs, 
and much other uproar, began to feel the quiet 
and confinement within doors intolerable. But as 
the rain came down in a flood, the little fellow was 
hopelessly a prisoner, and now stood with sullen 
10 aspect at a window, wondering whether the sun 
itself were not extinguished by so much moisture 
in the sky. 

Charley had already exhausted the less eager 
activity of the other children ; and they had be- 
taken themselves to occupations that did not 
admit of his companionship. Laurence sat in a 
recess near the book-case, reading, not for the first 

20 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 21 

time, the "Midsummer Night's Dream. "^ Clara 
was making a rosary ^ of beads or a little figure of 
a Sister of Charity, who was to attend the Bunker 
Hill fair and lend her aid in erecting the Monu- 
ment. Little Alice sat on Grandfather's footstool, 
with a picture-book in her hand; and, for every 
picture, the child was telling Grandfather a story. 
She did not read from the book (for little Alice 
had not much skill in reading), but told the story 
out of her own heart and mind. 

Charley was too big a boy, of course, to care any- 
thing about little Alice's stories, although Grand- 
father appeared to listen with a good deal of 
interest. Often, in a young child's ideas and 
fancies, there is something which it requires the 
thought of a lifetime to comprehend. But Char- 
ley was of opinion that, if a story must be told, 
it had better be told by Grandfather than little 
Alice. 

1 One of Shakespeare's plays, 

2 Kosary : a string of beads used by certain religious sects or 
denominations for keeping account of the prayers to be offered 
during the day or for a certain fixed period of time. 



22 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

" Grandfather, I want to hear more about your 
chair," said he. 

Now, Grandfather remembered that Charley had 
galloped away upon a stick in the midst of the 
narrative of poor Lady Arbella, and I know not 
whether he would have thought it worth while to 
tell another story merely to gratify such an inat- 
tentive auditor as Charley. But Laurence laid 
down his book and seconded ^ the request. Clara 

TO drew her chair nearer to Grandfather ; and little 
Alice immediately closed her picture-book and 
looked up into his face. Grandfather had not the 
heart to disappoint them. 

He mentioned several persons who had a share 
in the settlement of our country, and who would 
be well worthy of remembrance, if we could find 
room to tell about them all. Among the rest, 
Grandfather spoke of the famous Hugh Peters, a 
minister of the gospel, who did much good to the 

20 inhabitants of Salem. Mr. Peters afterwards went 
back to England, and was chaplain to Oliver Crom- 

1 Seconded : repeated, or asked in addition to the first re- 
quest. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 23 

well; but Grandfather did not tell the children 
what became of this upright and zealous man at 
last. In fact, his auditors were growing impatient 
to hear more about the history of the chair. 

" After the death of Mr. Johnson," said he, 
" Grandfather's chair came into the possession of 
Roger Williams. He was a clergyman, who arrived 
at Salem, and settled there in 1631. Doubtless 
the good man has spent many a studious hour in 
this old chair, either penning a sermon or reading lo 
some abstruse ^ book of theology ,2 till midnight 
came upon him unawares. At that period, as 
there were few lamps or candles to be had, people 
used to read or work by the light of pitch-pine 
torches. These supplied the place of the ' mid- 
night oil' to the learned men of New England." 

Grandfather went on to talk about Roger Will- 
iams, and told the children several particulars, 
which we have not room to repeat. 

1 Abstruse : hard to be understood. 

2 Theology : the science which treats of the relations of God 
to man. 



CHAPTER IV 

" Roger Williams," said Grandfather, " did 
not keep possession of the chair a great while. 
His opinions of civil ^ and religious matters differed, 
in many respects, from those of the rulers and 
clergymen of Massachusetts. Now, the wise men 
of those days believed that the country could not 
be safe unless all the inhabitants thought and 
felt alike." 

" Does anybody believe so in our days, Grand- 
10 father ? " asked Laurence. 

" Possibly there are some who believe it," said 
Grandfather ; " but they have not so much power 
to act upon their belief as the magistrates and 
ministers had in the days of Roger Williams. 
They had the power to deprive this good man of 

1 Civil : civil affairs are those that pertain to the state or 
government as opposed to religious affairs. 

24 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 25 

liis home, and to send him out from the midst of 
them in search of a new phice of rest. He was 
banished in 1634, and went lirst to Plymouth 
colony ; but as the people there held the same 
opinions as those of Massachusetts, he was not 
suffered to remain among them. However, the 
wilderness was wide enough ; so Roger Williams 
took his staff and travelled into the forest and 
made treaties with the Indians, and began a plan- 
tation which he called Providence." lo 

" I have been to Providence on the rail- 
road," said Charley. " It is but a two hours' 
ride." 

" Yes, Charley," replied Grandfather ; " but 
when Koger Williams travelled thither, over hills 
and valleys, and through the tangled woods, and 
across swamps and streams, it was a journey of 
several days. Well, his little plantation is now 
grown to be a populous city ; and the inhabitants 
have a great veneration ^ for Roger Williams. 20 
His name is familiar in the mouths of all, because 
they see it on their bank-bills. How it would 
1 Veneration : respect, reverence, regard. 



26 GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 

have perplexed this good clergyman if he had been 
told he should give his name to the Roger, Will- 
iams Bank ! " 

" When he was driven from Massachusetts," 
said Laurence, " and began his journey into the 
woods, he must have felt as if he were burying 
himself forever from the sight and knowledge of 
men. Yet the whole country has now heard of 
him, and will remember him forever." 

10 i4 Yes," answered Grandfather ; '' it often hap- 
pens that the outcasts of one generation are those 
who are reverenced as the wisest and best of men 
by the next. The securest fame is that which 
comes after a man's death. But let us return to 
our story. When Roger Williams was banished, 
he appears to have given the chair to Mrs. Anne 
Hutchinson. At all events, it was in her posses- 
sion in 1637. She was a very sharp-witted and 
well-instructed lad}^, and was so conscious of her 

20 own wisdom and abilities that she thought it a pity 
that the world should not have the benefit of 
them. She therefore used to hold lectures in 
Boston once or twice a week, at which most of 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 27 

the women attended. Mrs. Hutchinson presided 
at these meetings, sitting with great state and 
dignity in Grandfather's chair." 

'' Grandfather, was it positively this very chair?" 
demanded Clara, laying her hand upon its carved 
elbow. 

" Why not, my dear Clara ? " said Grandfather. 
" Well, Mrs. Hutchinson's lectures soon caused a 
great disturbance ; for the ministers of Boston did 
not think it safe and proper that a woman should lo 
publicly instruct the people in religious doctrines. 
Moreover, she made the matter worse by declaring 
that the Rev. Mr. Cotton was the only sincerely 
pious and holy clergyman in New England. 
Now, the clergy of those days had quite as much 
share in the government of the country, though 
indirectly, as the magistrates themselves ; so you 
may imagine what a host of powerful enemies 
were raised up against Mrs. Hutchinson. A 
synod was convened ; that is to say, an assemblage 20 
of all the ministers in Massachusetts. They de- 
clared that there were eighty-two erroneous opin- 
ions on religious subjects diffused among the 



28 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

people, and that Mrs. Hutchinson's opinions were 
of the number." 

" If they had eighty-two wrong opinions," ob- 
served Charley, " I don't see how they could have 
any right ones." 

"- Mrs. Hutchinson had many zealous friends and 
converts," continued Grandfather. " She was 
favored by young Henry Vane, who had come 
over from England a year or two before, and had 
10 since been chosen governor of the colony, at the 
age of twenty-four. But Winthrop and most of 
the other leading men, as well as the ministers, 
felt an abhorrence of her doctrines. Thus two 
opposite parties were formed; and so fierce were 
the dissensions that it was feared the consequence 
would be civil war and bloodshed. But Win- 
throp and the ministers being the most powerful, 
they disarmed and imprisoned Mrs. Hutchin- 
son's adherents.^ She, like Roger Williams, was 
20 banished." 

" Dear Grandfather, did they drive the poor 

1 Adherents : those who belong to the same party with an- 
other, who side with another. 



GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 29 

woman into the woods ? " exclaimed little Alice, 
who contrived to feel a human interest even in 
these discords of polemic divinity.^ 

'' They did, my darling," replied Grandfather ; 
'' and the end of her life was so sad you must not 
hear it. At her departure, it appears, from the 
best authorities, that she gave the great chair to 
her friend Henry Vane. He was a young man of 
wonderful talents and great learning, who had 
imbibed the religious opinions of the Puritans, lo 
and left England w^ith the intention of spending 
his life in Massachusetts. The people chose him 
governor ; but the controversy about Mrs. Hutch- 
inson, and other troubles, caused him to leave 
the country in 1637. You may read the sub- 
sequent events of his life in the History of 
England." 

" Yes, Grandfather," cried Laurence ; " and we 
may read them better in Mr. Upham's biography 
of Vane. And what a beautiful death he died, 20 

1 Discords of polemic divinity : polemic means warlike. 
Discussions on theology were frequently so severe that they 
might be said to be warlike. 



30 GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 

long afterwards ! beautiful, though it was on a 
scaffold." 1 

" Many of the most beautiful deaths have been 
there," said Grandfather. " The enemies of a great 
and good man can in no other way make him so 
glorious as by giving him the crown of mar- 
tyrdom." ^ 

In order that the children might fully under- 
stand the all -important history of the chair, 
10 Grandfather now thought fit to speak of the 
progress that was made in settling several colo- 
nies. The settlement of Plymouth, in 1620, has 
already been mentioned. In 1635 Mr. Hooker 
and Mr. Stone, two ministers, went on foot from 
Massachusetts to Connecticut, through the path- 
less woods, taking their Avhole congregation along 
with them. They founded the town of Hartford. 
In 1638 Mr. Davenport, a very celebrated min- 

1 Sir Henry Vane was one of the very active opponents of 
Charles I, and on account of this, he was beheaded August 
14, 1662. 

2 Martyrdom : giving up one's life for the truth as one may 
see it, rather than giving up the truth. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 31 

ister, went, with other people, and began a plan- 
tation at New Haven. In the same year, some 
persons who had been persecuted at Massachusetts 
went to the Isle of Rhodes, since called Rhode 
Island, and settled there. About this time, also, 
many settlers had gone to Maine, and were 
living without any regular government. There 
were likewise settlers near Piscataqua River, in 
the region which is now called New Hamp- 
shire. ^° 

Thus, at various points along the coast of New 
England, there were communities of Englishmen. 
Though these communities were independent of 
one another, yet they had a common dependence 
upon England ; and, at so vast a distance from 
their native home, the inhabitants must all have 
felt like brethren. They were fitted to become 
one united people at a future period. Perhaps 
their feelings of brotherhood were the stronger 
because different nations had formed settlements 20 
to the north and to the south. In Canada and 
Nova Scotia were colonies of French. On the 
banks of the Hudson River was a colony of Dutch, 



32 GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 

who had taken possession of that region many 
years before, and called it New Netherlands. 

Grandfather, for aught I know, might have 
gone on to speak of Maryland and Virginia ; for 
the good old gentleman really seemed to suppose 
that the whole surface of the United States was 
not too broad a foundation to place the four legs 
of his chair upon. But, happening to glance at 
Charley, he perceived that this naughty boy was 
10 growing impatient and meditating another ride 
upon a stick. So here, for the present. Grand- 
father suspended the history of his chair. 



CHAPTER V 

The children had now learned to look upon the 
chair with an interest which was almost the same 
as if it were a conscious being,i and could remem- 
ber the many famous people whom it had held 
within its arms. 

Even Charley, lawless as he was, seemed to feel 
that this venerable chair must not be clambered 
upon nor overturned, although he had no scruple 
in taking such liberties with every other chair 
in the house. Clara treated it with still greater lo 
reverence, often taking occasion to smooth its 
cushion, and to brush the dust from the carved 
flowers and grotesque ^ figures of its oaken back 
and arms. Laurence would sometimes sit a whole 
hour, especially at twilight, gazing at the chair, 

1 Conscious being : one which is alive and tliinks, or has 
feeling. 

2 Grotesque : comical, laughable, odd, ridiculous. 

i> 33 



34 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

and, by the spell of his imaginations, summoning 
up its ancient occupants to appear in it again. 

Little Alice evidently employed herself in a 
similar way ; for once when Grandfather had 
gone abroad, the child was heard talking with the 
gentle Lady Arbella, as if she were still sitting 
in the chair. So sweet a child as little Alice 
may fitly talk with angels, such as the Lady 
Arbella had long since become. 

lo Grandfather was soon importuned ^ for more 
stories about the chair. He had no difficulty in 
relating them ; for it really seemed as if every 
person noted in our early history had, on some 
occasion or other, found repose within its com- 
fortable arms. If Grandfather took pride in any- 
thing, it was in being the possessor of such an 
honorable and historic elbow-chair. 

" I know not precisely who next got possession 
of the chair after Governor Vane went back to 

20 England," said Grandfather. " But there is rea- 
son to believe that President Dunster sat in it, 
when he held the first Commencement at Harvard 
1 Importuned : asked, teased, begged. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 35 

College. You have often heard, children, how 
careful our forefathers were to give their young 
people a good education. They had scarcely cut 
down trees enough to make room for their own 
dwellings before they began to think of establish- 
ing a college. Their principal object was, to rear 
up pious and learned ministers ; and hence old 
writers call Harvard College a school of the 
prophets."^ 

"Is the college a school of the prophets now?"io 
asked Charley. 

" It is a long while since I took my degree, 
Charley. You must ask some of the recent gradu- 
ates," answered Grandfather. '' As I was telling 
you. President Dunster sat in Grandfather's chair 
in 1642, when he conferred the degree of bachelor 
of arts on nine young men. They were the first 
in America who had received that honor. And 

1 In the ancient days of Hebrew history, there were schools 
of, the prophets as they were •called. Their purpose was to 
train young men up in a knowledge of the religious observances 
of the Hebrew people. They corresponded in a general way 
to what we call Theological Seminaries now. 



36 GRANDFATHE'R'S CHAIR 

now, my clear auditors, I must confess that there 
are contradictory statements and some uncertainty 
about the adventures of the chair for a period of 
. almost ten years. Some say that it was occupied 
by your own ancestor, William Hawthorne, first 
speaker of the House of Representatives. I have 
nearly satisfied myself; however, that, during 
most of tliis questionable period, it was literally 
the chair of state. It gives me much pleasure 

lo to imagine that several successive governors of 
Massachusetts sat in it at the council board." 

"But, Grandfather," interposed Charley, who 
was a matter-of-fact little person, " what reason 
have you to imagine so?" 

" Pray do imagine it. Grandfather," said 
Laurence. 

'* With Charley's permission, I will," replied 
Grandfather, smiling. " Let us consider it set- 
tled, therefore, that Winthrop, Bellingham, Dud- 

20 ley, and Endicott, each of them, when chosen 
governor, took his seat' in our great chair on 
election day. In this chair, likewise, did those 
excellent governors preside while liolding con- 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 37 

snltations Avith the chief councillors of the prov- 
ince, who were styled assistants. The governor 
sat in this chair, too, whenever messages were 
brought to him from the chamber of representa- 
tives." 

And here Grandfather took occasion to talk 
rather tediously about the nature and forms of 
government that established themselves, almost 
spontaneously,^ in Massachusetts and the other 
New England colonies. Democracies '^ were the lo 
natural growth of the New World. As to Massa- 
chusetts, it was at first intende(i that the colony • 
should be governed by a council in London. But 
in a little while the people had the whole power 
in their own hands, and chose annually the gov- 
ernor, the councillors, and the representatives. 
The people of Old Enghind had never enjoyed 

1 Spontaneously : without effort, of their own accord. 

2 Democracy : a form of government in which the people 
elect their own officers. The people who came to this country 
from England had not been allowed to do this, and this spirit in 
England was one of the causes which brought about the war 
between the Puritans and Charles I. 



38 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

anything like the liberties and privileges which 
the settlers of New England now possessed. And 
they did not adopt these modes of government 
after long study, but in simplicity, as if there 
were no other way for people to be ruled. 

''But, Laurence," continued Grandfather, "when 
you want instruction on these points, you must- 
seek it in Mr. Bancroft's 'History. I am merely 
telling the history of a chair. To proceed. The 
[o period during which tlie governors sat in our chair 
"was not very full of striking incidents. The prov- 
ince was now established on a secure foundation ; 
but it did not increase so rapidly as at first, be- 
cause the Puritans Ave re no longer driven from 
England by persecution. Plowever, there was 
still a quiet and natural growth. The Legis- 
lature incorporated ^ towns, and made new pur- 

1 Incorporated : when any number of people ^Aish to go into 
business together, tliey form what is called a "corporation." 
Likewise if they wish to form a village or a city, they must 
get a charter giving them the right to form such a " corpora- 
tion." This power usually comes from the legislature, at least 
it did in the cases mentioned above. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 39 

chases of lands from the Indians. A very 
memorable event took place in 1643. The colo- 
nies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, 
and New Haven formed a union, for the purpose 
of assisting each other in difficulties, for mutual 
defence against their enemies. They called them- 
selves the United Colonies of New England." 

" Were they under a government like that of 
the United States? " inquired Laurence. 

'' No," replied Grandfather ; " the different lo 
colonies did not compose one nation together; 
it was merely a confederacy^ among the govern- 
ments. It somewliat resembled the league of the 
Amphictyons, which you remember in Grecian 
history. But to return to our chair. In 1644 it 
was highly honored ; for Governor Endicott sat in 
it when he gave audience to an ambassador from 
the Erench governor of Acadia, or Nova Scotia. 
A treaty of peace between Massachusetts and the 
French colony was then signed." 20 

" Did England allow Massachusetts to make 

1 Confederacy : a number of states or colonies binding them- 
selves together for self-j)rotection. 



40 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

war and peace with foreign countries ? " asked 
Laurence. 

" Massachusetts and the whole of New England 
was then almost independent of the mother coun- 
try," said Grandfather. " There was now a civil 
war in England ; and the king, as you may Avell 
suppose, had his hands full at home, and could 
pay but little attention to these remote colonies. 
When the Parliament got the power into their 

10 hands, they likewise had enough to do in keeping 
down the Cavaliers.^ Thus New England, like 
a young and hardy lad whose father and mother 
neglect it, was left to take care of itself. In 
1646 King Charles was beheaded. Oliver Crom- 
well then became Protector of England ; and as 
he was a Puritan himself, and had risen by the 
valor of the English Puritans, he showed liimself 
a loving and indulgent father to the Puritan 
colonies in America." 

2o Grandfather might have continued to talk in 

1 About 1642 a war broke out in England between the Parlia- 
ment and the King. For the most part those who sided with 
the King were called Cavaliers, while those who sided with the 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 41 

this dull manner nobody knows how long; but 
suspecting that Charley would find the subject 
rather dry, he looked sidewise at that vivacious 
little fellow, and saw him give an involuntary 
yawn. Whereupon Grandfather proceeded with 
the history of the chair, and related a very enter- 
taining incident, which will be found in the next 
chapter. 

Parliament were called Roundheads. The latter were Puritans 
for the most part. 



CHAPTER VI 

" According to the most authentic records, my 
dear children," said Grandfather, '' the chair, about 
this time, had the misfortune to break its leg. It 
was probably on account of this accident that it 
ceased to be the seat of the governors of Massa- 
chusetts ; for, assuredly, it would have been omi- 
nous of evil to the commonwealth if the chair 
of state had tottered upon three legs. Being 
therefore sold at auction, — alas ! what a vicissi- 
lotude for a chair that had figured in such high 
company ! — our venerable friend was knocked 
down! to a certain Captain John Hull. This old 
gentleman, on carefully examining the maimed 
chair, discovered that its broken leg might be 
clamped with iron and made as serviceable as 
ever." 

1 Knocked down : when anything is sold at auction, it is said 
to be "knocked down" to the buyer, or the successful bidder. 

42 



GEANBFArilER'S CHAIR 43 

" Here is the very leg that was broken ! " 
exclaimed Charley, throwing himself down on 
the floor to look at it. " And here are the iron 
clamps. How well it was mended ! " 

When they had all sufficiently examined the 
broken leg, Grandfather told them a story about 
Captain John Hull and 



THE PINE-TREE SHILLINGS 

The Captain John Hull aforesaid was the mint- 
master of Massachusetts, and coined all the money' 
that was made there. This was a new line of lo 
business ; for, in the earlier days of the colony, 
the current coinage consisted of gold and silver 
money of England, Portugal, and Spain. These 
coins being scarce, the people were often forced 
to barter 1 their commodities instead of selling 
them. 

1 Barter : trade. Commodities are such things as they might 
make, or raise, or have for sale. On account of the scarcity of 
money, they were obliged to do their buying and selling by 
trading or exchanging, as eggs for tea, or fish for sugar. 



44 GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 

For instance, if a man wanted to buy a coat, he 
perhaps exchanged a bearskin for it'. If he wished 
for a barrel of molasses, he might purchase it with 
a pile of pine boards. Musket-bullets were used 
instead of farthings. The Indians had a sort of 
mone}^ called wampum, which was made of clam- 
shells ; and this strange sort of specie ^ was like- 
wise taken in payment of debts by the English 
settlers. Bank-bills had never been heard of. 

lo There was not money enough of any kind, in 
many parts of the country, to pay the salaries of 
.the ministers ; so that they sometimes had to take 
quintals ^ of fish, bushels of corn, or cords of wood, 
instead of silver or gold. 

As the people grew more numerous, and their 
trade one with another increased, the want of 
current money was still more sensibly felt. To 
supply the demand, the General Court passed a 
law for establishing a coinage of shillings, six- 

2opences, and threepences. Captain John Hull was 
appointed to manufacture this money, and was to 

• ^ Specie : coins of silver, gold, or copper, or some other metal. 
2 Quintal : one hundred pounds. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 45 

have about one shilling out of every twenty to 
pay him for the trouble of making them. 

Hereupon all the old silver in the colony was 
handed over to Captain John Hull. The bat- 
tered silver cans and tankards, 1 suppose, and 
silver buckles, and broken spoons, and silver 
buttons of worn-out coats, and silver hilts of 
swords that had figured at court, — all such curi- 
ous old articles were doubtless thrown into the 
melting-pot together. But by far the greater lo 
part of the silver consisted of bullion ^ from the 
mines of South America, which the English buc- 
caneers ^ — who were little better than pirates — 
had taken from the Spaniards, and brouglit to 
Massachusetts. 

All this old and new silver being melted down 

1 Bullion : gold or silver in the mass, not coined. 

2 Buccaneers : pirates. This word is an interesting illustra- 
tion of how a word can pass from a good meaning to a bad 
meaning. It meant at first a class of French settlers in the 
West Indies, who ased to raise and cure, or smoke, meat. 
The place where this smoking was done was called a boucan. 
The Spanish who drove the French settlers away were there- 
fore called bucaniers. Hence the name, buccaneers. 



46 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

and coined, the result was an immense amount 
of splendid shillings, sixpences, and threepences. 
Each had the date, 1652, on the one side, and the 
figure of a pine-tree on the other. Hence they 
were called pine-tree shillings. And for every 
twenty shillings that he coined, you will remem- 
ber. Captain John Hull was entitled to put one 
shilling into his own pocket. 

The magistrates soon began to suspect that the 

10 mint-master would have the best of the bargain. 
They offered him a large sum of money if he 
would but give up that twentieth shilling which 
he was continually dropping into his own pocket. 
But Captain Hull declared himself perfectly satis- 
fied with the shilling. And well he might be ; 
for so diligently did he labor, that, in a few years, 
his pockets, his money-bags, and his strong box 
were overflowing with pine-tree shillings. This 
was probably the case when he came into pos- 

20 session of Grandfather's chair; and, as he 'had 
worked so hard at the mint, it was certainly 
proper that he should have a comfortable chair 
to rest himself in. 



GRANDFATHElVS CHAIR 47 

When the mint-master had grown very rich, a 
young man, Samuel Sewell by name, came a-court- 
ing to his only daughter. His daughter — whose 
name I do not know, but we will call her Betsey — 
was a fine, hearty damsel, by no means so slender 
as some young ladies of our own days. On the 
contrary, having always fed heartily on pumpkin- 
pies, doughnuts, Indian puddings, and other 
Puritan dainties, she was as round and plump as 
a pudding herself. With this round, rosy Miss lo 
Betsey did Samuel Sewell fall in love. As he was 
a young man of good character, industrious in his 
business, and a member of the church, the mint- 
master very readily gave his consent. 

" Yes, you may take her," said he, in his 
rough way, " and you'll find her a heavy burden 
enough ! " 

On the wedding-day we may suppose that 
honest John Hull dressed himself in a plum-col- 
ored coat, all the buttons of which were made of 20 
pine-tree shillings. The buttons of his waistcoat ^ 

1 Waistcoat : pronounced wescut ; a garment corresponding 
to the modern vest. 



48 GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 

were sixpences ; and the knees of his small- 
clothes^ were buttoned with silver threepences. 
Thus attired, he sat with great dignity in Grand- 
father's chair ; and being a portly old gentleman, 
he completely filled it from elbow to elbow. On 
the opposite side of the room, between her bride- 
maids, sat Miss Betsey. She was blushing with all 
her might, and looked like a full-grown peony, or 
a great red apple. 

10 There, too, was the bridegroom, dressed in a 
fine purple coat and gold-lace waistcoat, with as 
much other finery as the Puritan laws and customs 
would allow him to put on. His hair was cropped 
close to his head, because Governor Endicott had 
forbidden any man to w^ear it below the ears. 
But he was a very personable ^ young man ; and 
so thought the bridemaids and Miss Betsey her- 
self. 

The mint-master also was pleased with his new 

20 son-in-law ; especially as he had courted Miss 

1 Small-clothes : tight-fitting knee-breeches, as differing from 
the long Iroiisers worn in these days. 

2 Personable : attractive in person. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 49 

Betsey out of pure love, and had said nothing at 
all about her portion. ^ So when the marriage 
ceremony was over, Captain Hull whispered a 
word to two of his men-servants, who immediately 
went out, and soon returned lugging in a large 
pair of scales. They were such a pair as wholesale 
merchants use for weighing bulky commodities ^ ; 
and quite a bulky commodity was now to be 
weighed in them. 

" Daughter Betsey," said the mint-master, " get lo 
into one side of these scales." 

Miss Betsey — or Mrs. Sewell, as we must now 
call her — did as she was bid like a dutiful child, 
without any question of the why and wherefore. 
But what her father could mean, unless to make 
her husband pay for her by the pound (in which 
case she would have been a dear bargain), she 
had not the least idea. 

1 Portion : in former days it was a custom when a daughter 
was married for the fatlier to give her a marriage portion, or a 
certain amount of money as a gift. 

2 Commodities : any articles of value, usually of small or 
movable size, which can be bought and sold. 



50 GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 

" And now," said honest John Hull to the ser- 
vants, "bring that box hither." 

The box to which the mint-master pointed was 
a huge, square, iron-bound, oaken chest ; it was 
big enough, my children, for all four of you to 
play at hide-and-seek in. The servants tugged 
with might and main, but could not lift this enor- 
mous receptacle, and were finally obliged to drag it 
across the floor. Captain Hull then took a key 

10 from his girdle, unlocked the chest, and lifted its 
ponderous lid. Behold ! it was full to the brim 
of bright pine-tree shillings, fresh from the mint ; 
and Samuel Sewell began to tliink that his father- 
in-law had got possession of all the money in the 
Massachusetts treasury. But it was only the 
mint-master's honest share of the coinage. 

Then the servants, at Captain Hull's command, 
heaped double handfuls of shillings into one side 
of the scales, while Betsey remained in the other. 

20 Jingle, jingle, went the shillings, as handful after 
handful was thrown in, till, plump and ponderous 
as she was, they fairly weighed the young lady 
from the floor. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 51 

" There, son Sewell ! " cried the honest mint- 
master, resuming his seat in Grandfather's chair, 
'' take these shillings for my daughter's portion. 
Use her kindly, and thank Heaven for her. It is 
not every wife that's worth her weight in silver ! " 

The children laughed heartily at this legend, 
and would hardly be convinced but that Grand- 
father had made it out of his own head. He 
assured them faithfully, however, that he had 
found it in the pages of a grave historian, and 1° 
had merely tried to tell it in a somewhat funnier 
style. As for Samuel Sewell, he afterwards 
became chief justice of Massachusetts. 

" Well, Grandfather," remarked Clara, " if 
wedding portions nowadays were paid as Miss 
Betsey's was, young ladies would not pride them- 
selves upon an airy figure, as many of tliem do." 



CHAPTER VII 

When his little audience next assembled round 
the chair, Grandfather gave them a doleful history 
of the Quaker persecution, which began in 1656, 
and raged for about three years in Massachusetts. 

He told them how, in the first place, twelve of 
the converts of George Fox, the first Quaker in 
the world, had come over from England. They 
seemed to be impelled by an earnest love for the 
souls of men, and a pure desire to make known 
10 what they considered a revelation from Heaven. 
But the rulers looked upon them as plotting the 
downfall of all government and religion. They 
were banished from the colony. In a little while, 
however, not only tlie first twelve had returned, 
but a multitude of other Quakers had come to 
rebuke the rulers and to preach against the priests 
and steeple-houses. 1 

1 Steeple-houses : churches, church buildings. The Quakers 

52 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 53 

Grandfather described the hatred and scorn 
with which these enthusiasts were received. They 
were thrown into dungeons ; they were beaten 
witli many stripes, women as well as men ; they 
were driven forth into the wilderness, and left to 
the tender mercies of wild beasts and Indians. 
The children were amazed to hear that the more 
the Quakers were scourged, and imprisoned, and 
banished, the more did the sect ^ increase, both by 
the influx ^ of strangers and by converts from among lo 
the Puritans. But Grandfather told them that 
God had put something into the soul of man, which 
always turned the cruelties of the persecutor to 
naught. 

He went on to relate that, in 1659, two Quakers, 
named William Robinson and Marmaduke Stephen- 
son, were hanged at Boston. A woman had been 



objected to the use of the word " church " as meaning a building, 
but thought that the "church" should mean just the people 
who make up a church society. 

1 Sect : a religious body of people, as the Baptists, Presby- 
terians, Quakers, Roman Catholics, etc. 

2 Influx : pouring in. 



54 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

sentenced to die with them, but was reprieved ^ on 
condition of her leaving the colony. Her name 
was Mary Dyer. In the year 1660 she returned 
to Boston, although she knew death awaited her 
there ; and, if Grandfather had been correctly in- 
formed, an incident had then taken place which 
connects lier with our story. This Mary Dyer 
had entered the mint-master's dwelling, clothed in 
sackcloth and ashes,^ and seated herself in our 
10 great chair with a sort of dignity and state. Then 
she proceeded to deliver what she called a message 
from Heaven, but in the midst of it they dragged 
her to prison. 

" And was she executed ? " asked Laurence. 

1 Reprieved : here means that the punishment was not in- 
flicted. It properly means that the carrying out of a sen- 
tence is delayed for a time. Another trial might free the 
victim. 

2 Sackcloth and ashes : sackcloth is a coarse kind of cloth 
used for making sacks, probably not unlike our coffee sacking. 
It has been the custom for ages for any person who wished to 
show signs of deep grief, or mourning, or sorrow, to clothe him- 
self in sackcloth and ashes, and appear before the people in this 
style of dress. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 55 

"She was," said Grandfather. 

" Grandfather," cried Charley, clinching his 
fist, " I would have fought for that poor Quaker 
woman ! " 

" Ah, but if a sword had been drawn for her," 
said Laurence, '■'it would have taken away all the 
beauty of her death." 

It seemed as if hardly any of the preceding 
stories had thrown such an interest around Grand- 
father's chair as did the fact that the poor, per- lo 
secuted, wandering Quaker woman had rested in 
it for a moment. The children were so much 
excited that Grandfather found it necessary to 
bring his account of the persecution to a close. 

"In 1660, the same year in wliich Mary Dyer 
was executed," said he, " Charles II was restored 
to the throne of his fathers. This king had many 
vices ; but he would not permit blood to be shed, 
under pretence of religion, in any part of his 
dominions. The Quakers in England told him 20 
what had been done to their brethren in Massa- 
chusetts ; and he sent orders to Governor Endi- 
cott to forbear all such proceedings in future. 



56 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

And so ended the Quaker persecution, — one of 
the most mournful passages in the history of our 
forefathers." 

Grandfather then tokl his auditors, that, shortly 
after the above incident, the great chair had been 
given by the mint-master to the Rev. Mr. John 
Eliot. He was the first minister of Roxbury. 
But besides attending to the pastoral duties there, 
he learned the language of the red men, and often 

10 went into the woods to preach to them. So 
earnestly did he labor for their conversion that he 
has always been called the apostle to tlie Indians. 
The mention of this holy man suggested to Grand- 
father the propriety ^ of giving a brief sketch of 
the history of the Indians, so far as they were con- 
nected with the English colonists. 

A short period before the arrival of the first 
Pilgrims at Plymouth there had been a very 
grievous plague among the red men ; and the 

20 sages and ministers of that day were inclined to 
the opinion that Providence had sent this niortal- 

1 Propriety : fitness ; we speak of the propriety of anything 
to mean that it is proper, in good taste. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 67 

ity ^ in order to make room for the settlement of 
the English. But I know not why we should sup- 
pose thpvt an Indian's life is less precious, in the 
eye of Heaven, than that of a white man. I^e that 
as it may, death had certainly been very busy with 
the savage tribes. 

In many places the English found the wigwams 
deserted and the corn-fields growing to waste, 
with none to harvest the grain. There were 
heaps of earth also, which, being dug open, proved lo 
to be Indian graves, containing bows and flint- 
headed spears and arrows ; for the Indians buried 
the dead warrior's weapons along with him. In 
some spots there were skulls and other human 
bones lying unburied. In 1633, and the year 
afterwards, the small-pox broke out among the 
Massachusetts Indians, multitudes of whom died 
by this terrible disease of the Old World. These 
misfortunes made them far less powerful than they 
had formerly been. 20 

For nearly half a century after the arrival of 
the English the red men showed themselves 
1 Mortality : death. 



58 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

generally inclined to peace and amity.^ They 
often made submission when they might have 
made successful war. The Plymouth settlers, led 
by the famous Captain Miles Standish, slew some 
of them, in 1623, without any very evident necessity 

• for so doing. In 1636, and the following year, 
there was the most dreadful war that had yet 
occurred between the Indians and the English. 
The Connecticut settlers, assisted by a celebrated 

10 Indian chief named Uncas, bore the brunt ^ of this 
war, with but little aid from Massachusetts. 
Many hundreds of the hostile Indians were slain 
or burned in their wigwams. Sassacus, their 
sachem, fled to another tribe, after his own people 
were defeated ; but he was murdered by them, 
and his head was sent to his English enemies. 

From that period down to the time of King 
Philip's War, which will be mentioned hereafter, 
there was not much trouble with the Indians. 

20 But the colonists were always on their guard, and 
kept their weapons ready for the conflict. 

" I have sometimes doubted," said Grandfather, 
1 Amity : friendship. ^ Brunt : the heaviest part. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 59 

when he had tohl these things to the chiklren, — 
"I have soniethnes doubted whether there was 
more than a single man among our forefathers, 
who realized that an Indian possesses a mind, and 
a heart, and an immortal soul. That single man 
was John Eliot. All the rest of the early settlers 
seemed to think that the Indians were an inferior 
race of beings, whom the Creator had merely 
allowed to keep possession of this beautiful country 
till the white men should be in want of it." lo 

" Did the pious men of those days never try to 
make Christians of them ? " asked Laurence. 

" Sometimes, it is true," answered Grandfather, 
" the magistrates and ministers would talk about 
civilizing and converting the red people. But, at 
the bottom of their hearts, they would have had 
almost as much expectation of civilizing the wild 
bear of the woods and making him fit for paradise. 
They felt no faith in the success of any such 
attempts, because they had no love for the poor 20 
Indians. Now Eliot was full of love for them ; 
and therefore so full of faith and hope that he 
spent the labor of a lifetime in their behalf." 



60 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

" I would have conquered them first, and then 
converted them," said Charley. 

" Ah, Charley, there spoke the very spirit of 
our forefathers ! " replied Grandfather. " But 
Mr. Eliot had a better spirit. He looked upon 
them as his brethren. He persuaded as many of 
them as he could to leave off their idle and wander- 
ing habits, and to build houses and cultivate the 
earth, as the English did. He established schools 
10 among them and taught many of the Indians how 
to read. He taught them, likewise, how to pray. 
Hence they were called ' praying Indians. ' Finally, 
having spent the best years of his life for their 
good, Mr. Eliot resolved to spend the remainder 
in doing them a yet greater benefit." 

'' I know what that was ! " cried Laurence. 

" He sat down in his study," continued Grand- 
father, " and began a translation ^ of the Bible into 
the Indian tongue. It was while he was engaged 
20 in this pious work that the mint-master gave him 

1 Translation : to turn from one language into another, as 
the Bible from the original Hebrew or Greek into English, or 
Indian, or any other language. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 61 

our great chair. His toil needed it and deserved 
it." 

" Oh, Grandfather, tell us all about that Indian 
Bible ! " exclaimed Laurence. ''I have seen it in 
the library of the Atlienceuni ^ ; and the tears 
came into my eyes to think that there were no 
Indians left to read it." 

1 Athenaeum : the name of a prominent library in Boston. 



CHAPTER VIII 

As Grandfather was a great admirer of the 
apostle Eliot, he was glad to comply with the 
earnest reqnest which Laurence had made at 
the close of the last cliapter. So he proceeded to 
describe how good Mr. Eliot labored, while he 
was at work upon 

THE INDIAN BIBLE 

My dear children, what a task would you think 
it, even with a long lifetime before you, were you 
bidden to copy every cliapter, and verse, and word 
10 in yonder family Bible. Would not this be a 
heavy toil ? But if the task were, not to write 
off the English Bible, but to learn a language 
utterly unlike all other tongues, — a language 
which hitherto had never been learned, except by 
the Indians themselves, from their mothers' lips, 
— a language never written, and tlie strange 

62 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 63 

words of which seemed inexpressible by letters, 
— if the task w^ere, first to learn tliis new variety 
of speech, and then to translate the Bible into it, 
and to do it so carefully that not one idea through- 
out the holy book should be changed, — what 
would induce you to undertake this toil? Yet 
this was what the apostle Eliot did. 

It was a mighty work for a man, now growing 
old, to take upon himself. And what earthly re- 
ward could he expect from it ? None ; no reward 
on earth.' But he believed that the red men were 
the descendants of those lost tribes of Israel ^ of 
whom history has been able to tell us nothing for 
thousands of years. He hoped that God had sent 
the English across the ocean. Gentiles as they 
were, to enlighten this benighted ^ portion of his 

1 There were originally twelve tribes of the Israelitish people, 
but after they were captured and taken away to Babylon in cap- 
tivity ten of the tribes disappeared, and we have no history of 
just what became of them. Some people have believed that the 
American Indians were these "lost tribes," while others have 
believed that the English people, the Anglo-Saxons, are the lost 
tribes. 

2 Benighted : darkened, not enlightened, ignorant. 



64 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

once chosen race. And when he should be sum- 
moned hence, he trusted to meet blessed spirits in 
another world, whose bliss would have been earned 
by his patient toil in translating the word of God. 
This hope and trust were far dearer to him than 
anything that earth could offer. 

Sometimes, while thus at work, he was visited 
by learned men, who desired to know what liter- 
ary undertaking Mr. Eliot had in hand. They, 

10 like himself, had been bred in the studious clois- 
ters 1 of a university, and were supposed to possess 
all the erudition 2 which mankind has hoarded 
up from age to age. Greek and Latin were as 
familiar to them as the babble of their childhood. 
Hebrew was like their mother-tongue. They had 
grown gray in study ; their eyes were -bleared with 
poring over print and manuscript by the light of 
the midnight lamp. 

And yet, how much had they left unlearned ! 

20 Mr. Eliot would put into their hands some of the 

1 Cloisters : an enclosure, especially in the old manasteries, 
or colleges, especially used for exercise and study. 

2 Erudition : education, learning, knowledge. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 65 

pages which he had been writing ; and behokl ! 
the gray-headed men stammered over the long, 
strange words, like a little child in his first at- 
tempts to read. Then wonld the apostle call to 
him an Indian boy, one of his scliolars, and show 
him the manuscript whicli liad so puzzled the 
learned Englishmen. 

" Read this, my child," would he say ; " these 
are some brethren of mine, who would fain ^ hear 
the sound of thy native tongue." lo 

Then would the Indian boy cast his eyes over 
the mysterious page, and read it so skilfully that 
it sounded like wild music. It seemed as if the 
forest leaves were singing in the ears of his auditors, 
and as if the roar of distant streams were poured 
through the young Indian's voice. Such were the 
sounds amid which the language of the red man had 
been formed ; and they were still heard to echo in it. 

The lesson being over, Mr. Eliot would give the 
Indian boy an apple or a cake, and bid him leap 20 
forth into the open air which his free nature loved. 
The apostle was kind to children, and even shared 

1 Fain : gladly. 
p 



66 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

in their sports sometimes. And when his visitors 
had bidden him farewell, the good man turned 
patiently to his toil again. 

No other Englishman had ever understood the 
Indian character so well, nor possessed so great an 
influence over the New England tribes, as the 
apostle did. His advice and assistance must often 
have been valuable to his countrymen in their 
transactions with the Indians. Occasionally, per- 

10 haps, the governor and some of the councillors came 
to visit Mr. Eliot. Perchance they were seeking 
some method to circumvent^ the forest people. 
They inquired, it may be, how they could obtain 
possession of such and such a tract of their rich 
land. Or they talked of making the Indians their 
servants ; as if God had destined them for perpet- 
ual bondage to the more powerful white man. 

Perhaps, too, some warlike captain, dressed in 
his buff coat, with a corselet ^ beneath it, accom- 

20 panied the governor and councillors. Laying his 

1 Circumvent : to get the better of, usually by some trick. 

2 Corselet : armor, such as a soldier wears to protect his 
body. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 67 

hand upon his sword hilt, he would declare that 
the only method of dealing with the red men was 
to meet them with the sword drawn and the mus- 
ket presented. 

But the apostle resisted both the craft of the 
politician and the fierceness of the warrior. 

" Treat these sons of the forest as men and 
brethren," he would say ; " and let us endeavor to 
make them Christians. Their forefathers were of 
that chosen race whom God delivered from Egyp- lo 
tian bondage. Perchance he has destined us to 
deliver the children from the more cruel bondage 
of ignorance and idolatry. Chiefly for this end, 
it may be, we were directed across the ocean." 

When these other visitors were gone, Mr. Eliot 
bent himself again over the half-written page. 
He dared hardly relax a moment from his toil. 
He felt that, in the book which he was translating, 
there was a deep human as well as heavenly wis- 
dom, which would of itself suffice to civilize and 20 
refine the savage tribes. Let the Bible be diffused 
among theai, and all earthly good would follow. 
But how slight a consideration was this, when he 



68 GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 

reflected that the eternal welfare of a whole race 
of men depended upon his accomplishment of the 
task which he had set himself I What if his hands 
should be palsied ? What if his mind should lose 
its vigor ? W^hat if death should come upon him 
ere the work were done ? Then must the red man 
wander in the dark wilderness of heathenism for- 
ever. 

Impelled by such thoughts as these, he sat writ- 

10 ing in the great chair when the pleasant summer 
breeze came in through his open casement ; and 
also when the fire of forest logs sent up its blaze 
and smoke, through the broad stone chimney, into 
the wintry air. Before the earliest bird sang in 
the morning the apostle's lamp was kindled ; and, 
at midnight, his weary head was not yet upon its 
pillow. And at length, leaning back in the great 
chair, he could say to himself with a holy triumph, 
" The work is finished ! " 

20 It was finished. Here was a Bible for the Ind- 
ians. Those long-lost descendants of the ten 
tribes of Israel would now learn the history of 
their forefathers. That grace which the ancient 



GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 69 

Israelites had forfeited was offered anew to their 
children. 

There is no impiety in believing that, when his 
long life was over, the apostle of the Indians was 
welcomed to the celestial abodes by the prophets 
of ancient days and by those earliest apostles and 
evangelists who had drawn their inspiration from 
the immediate presence of the Saviour. They 
first had preached truth and salvation to the world. 
And Eliot, separated from them by many centu- lo 
ries, yet full of the same spirit, had borne the like 
message to the New World of the west. Since 
the first days of Christianity, there has been no 
man more worthy to be numbered in the brother- 
hood of the apostles than Eliot. 

" My heart is not satisfied to think," observed 
Laurence, "that Mr. Eliot's labors have done no 
good except to a few Indians of his own time. 
Doubtless he would not have regretted his toil, if 
it were the means of saving but a single soul. 20 
But it is a grievous thing to me that he should 
have toiled so hard to translate the Bible, and now 



70 GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 

the language and the people are gone ! The Ind- 
ian Bible itself is almost the only relic of both." 

" Laurence," said his Grandfather, '' if ever you 
should doubt that man is capable of disinterested 
zeal for his brother's good, then remember how the 
apostle Eliot toiled. And if you should feel your 
own self-interest pressing upon your heart too 
closely, then think of Eliot's Indian Bible. It is 
good for the world that such a man has lived and 
10 left this emblem of his life." 

The tears gushed into the eyes of Laurence, 
and he acknowledged that Eliot had not toiled in 
vain. Little Alice put up her arms to Grand- 
father, and drew down his white head beside her 
own golden locks. 

" Grandfather," whispered she, '' I Avant to kiss 
good Mr. Eliot ! " 

And, doubtless, good Mr. Eliot would gladly re- 
ceive the kiss of so sweet a child as little Alice, 
20 and would think it a portion of his reward in 
heaven. 

Grandfather now observed that Dr. Francis had 
written a very beautiful Life of Eliot, which he 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 71. 

advised Laurence to peruse. He then spoke of 
King Philip's War, which began in 1675, and 
terminated ^ with the death of King Philip, in 
the following year. Philip was a proud, fierce 
Indian, whom Mr. Eliot had vainly endeavored to 
convert to the Christian faith. 

" It must have been a great anguish to the apos- 
tle," continued Grandfather, '' to hear of mutual 
slaughter and outrage between his own country- 
men and those for whom he felt the affection of a lo 
father. A few of the praying Indians joined the 
followers of King Philip. A greater number fought 
on the side of the English. In the course of the 
war the little community of red people whom Mr. 
Eliot had begun to civilize was scattered, and 
probably ncA^er was restored to a flourishing con- 
dition. But his zeal did not grow cold ; and only 
about five years before his death he took great pains 
in preparing a new edition of the Indian Bible." 

'' I do wish. Grandfather," cried Charley, "you 20 
would tell us all about the battles in King Philip's 
War." 

1 Terminated : ended. 



72 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

" Oh, no ! " exclaimed Clara. " Who wants to 
hear about tomahawks and scalping-knives ? " 

" No, Charley," replied Grandfather, '' I have 
no time to spare in talking about battles. You 
must be content with knowing that it Avas the 
bloodiest war that the Indians had ever waged 
against the white men; and that, at its close, the 
English set King Philip's head upon a pole." 

'' Who was the captain of the English ? " asked 
10 Charley. 

" Their most noted captain was Benjamin 
Church, — a very famous warrior," said Grand- 
father. ''But I assure you, Charley, that neither 
Captain Church, nor any of the officers and sol- 
diers who fought in King Philip's War, did any- 
thing a thousandth part so glorious as Mr. Eliot 
did when he translated the Bible for the Indians." 

" Let Laurence be the apostle," said Charley to 
himself, "and I will be the captain." 



CHAPTER IX 

The children were now accustomed to assemble 
round Grandfather's chair at all their unoccupied 
moments ; and often it was a striking picture to 
behold the white-headed old sire,^ with this flowery 
wreath of young people around him. When he 
talked to them, it was the past speaking to the 
present, or rather to the future, — for* the children 
were of a generation which had not become act- 
ual. ^ Their part in life, thus far, was only to be 
happy and to draw knowledge from a thousand lo 
sources. As yet, it was not their time to do. 

Sometimes, as Grandfather gazed at their fair, 
unworldly countenances, a mist of tears bedimmed 
his spectacles. He almost regretted that it was 
necessary for them to know anything of the past 
or to provide aught for the future. He could 

1 Sire : grandfather. 

2 Actual : this means that tlie children were not old enough to 
•be actively engaged in the work of life. 

73 



74 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

have wished that they might be always the hapj)y, 
youthful creatures who had hitherto sported 
around his chair, without inquiring whether it 
had a history. It grieved him to think that his 
little Alice, who was a flower bud fresh from 
paradise, must open her leaves to the rough 
breezes of the world, or ever open them in any 
clime. So sweet a child she was, that it seemed 
fit her infancy should be immortal. 

10 But such repinings were merely flitting shadows 
across the old man's heart. He had faith enough 
to believe, and wisdom enough to know, that the 
bloom of the flower would be even holier and hap- 
pier than its bud. Even within himself, though 
Grandfather was now at that period of life when 
the veil of mortality is apt to hang heavily over 
the soul, still, in his inmost being he was conscious 
of somethino^ that he would not have exchano^ed 
for the best happiness of childhood. It was a 

20 bliss to which every sort of earthly experience — 
all that he had enjoyed, or suffered, or seen, or 
heard, or acted, with the broodings of his soul 
upon the whole — had contributed somewhat. In 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 75 

the same manner must a bliss, of which now they 
could have no conception,^ grow up within these 
children, and form a part of their sustenance ^ for 
immortality. 

So Grandfather, with renewed cheerfulness, 
continued his history of the chair, trusting that a 
profounder wisdom than his own would extract, 
from these flowers and weeds of Time, a fragrance 
that might last beyond all time. 

At this period of the story Grandfather threw lo 
a glance backward as far as the year 1660. He 
spoke of the ill-concealed reluctance with which 
the Puritans in America had acknowledged the 
sway of Charles II on his restoration to his 
father's throne. When death had stricken Oliver 
Cromwell, that mighty protector had no sincerer 
mourners than in New England. The new king 
had been more than a year upon the throne before 
his accession was proclaimed in Boston, although 
the neglect to perform the ceremony might have 20 
subjected the rulers to the charge of treason. 

1 Conception : understanding. 
'^ Sustenance : food, nourishment. 



76 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

During the reign of Charles II, however, the 
American colonies had but little reason to com- 
plain of harsh or tyrannical treatment. But 
Avhen Charles died in 1685, and was succeeded by 
his brother James, the patriarchs ^ of New England 
began to tremble. King James was known to be 
of an arbitrary ^ temper. It was feared by the 
Puritans that he would assume despotic^ power. 
Our forefathers felt that they had no security 
10 either for their religion or their liberties. 

The result proved that they had reason for 
their apprehensions.^ King James caused the 
charters of all the American colonies to be taken 
away. The old charter of Massachusetts, which 
the people regarded as a holy thing and as the 

1 Patriarchs : old men, the men who on account of age and 
experience were most active in the affairs of the government. 

2 Arbitrary : an arbitrary man is a man v^^ho does things just 
according to his own mind, without regard to law, or the rights 
of others. 

2 Despotic : a despot is a person who rules entirely by his own 
will, and allows no one to interfere with his plans of government ; 
a tyrant. 

* Apprehensions : dread, fear. 



GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 77 

foundation of all their liberties, was declared void.^ 
The colonists were now no longer freemen ; they 
were entirely dependent on the king's pleasure. 
At first, in 1685, King James appointed Joseph 
Dudley, a native of Massachusetts, to be president 
of New England. But soon afterwards Sir 
Edmund Andros, an officer of the English array, 
arrived, with commission to be governor-general 
of New England and New York. 

The king had given such powers to Sir Edmund lo 
Andros that tliere was now no liberty, nor scarcely 
any law, in the colonies over which he ruled. 
The inhabitants were not allowed to choose repre- 
sentatives, and consequently had no voice what- 
ever in the government, nor control over the 
measures that were adopted. The conncillors 
with whom the governor consulted on matters of 
state were appointed by himself. This sort of 
government was no better than an absolute des- 
potism. 20 

'* The people suffered much wrong while Sir 
Edmund Andros ruled over them," continued 
1 Void : of no value, not good for anything. 



78 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

Grandfather ; " and they were apprehensive of 
much more. He had brought some soldiers with 
him from EngUxnd, who took possession of the old 
fortress on Castle Island and of the fortification 
on Fort Hill. Sometimes it was rumored that a 
general massacre of the inhabitants was to be 
perpetrated by these soldiers. There were re- 
ports, too, that all the ministers were to be slain 
or imprisoned." 

10 " For what ? " inquired Charley. 

" Because they were the leaders of the people, 
Charley," said Grandfather. "A minister was 
a more formidable man than a general in those 
days. Well, while these things were going on in 
America, King James had so misgoverned the 
people of England that they sent over to Holland 
for the Prince of Orange. He had married the 
king's daughter, and was therefore considered 
to have a claim to the crown. On his arrival in 

20 England, the Prince of Orange was ]3i'oclaimed 
king, by the name of William III. Poor old 
King James made his escape to France." 

Grandfather told how, at the first intelligence 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 79 

of the landing of the Prince of Orange in England, 
the people of Massachusetts rose in their strength 
and overthrew the government of Sir iCdmnnd 
Andros. He, with Joseph Dudley, Edmund 
Randolph, and his other principal adherents, was 
thrown into prison. Old Simon Bradstreet, who 
had been governor when King James took away 
the charter, was called by the people to govern 
them again. 

" Governor Bradstreet was a venerable old man, ^° 
nearly ninety years of age," said Grandfather. 
" He came over with tlie first settlers, and had 
been the intimate couipanion of all those excellent 
and famous men Avho laid the foundation of our 
country. They were all gone before him to the 
grave, and Bradstreet was the last of the Puri- 
tans." 

Grandfather paused a moment and smiled, as if 
he had something very interesting to tell his 
auditors. He then proceeded : — 20 

'^ And now, Laurence, — now, Clara, — now, 
Charley, — now, my dear little Alice, — what chair 
do you think had been placed in the council cham- 



80 GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 

ber, for old Governor Bradstreet to take liis seat 
in ? . Would you believe that it was this very chair 
in which Grandfather now sits, and of which he is 
telling you tlie history ? " 

" I am glad to hear it, with all my heart ! " cried 
Charley, after a shout of delight. '' I thought 
Grandfather had quite forgotten the chair." 

"It was a solemn and affecting sight," said 
Grandfather, " when this venerable patriarch, with 

10 his white beard flowing down upon his breast, 
took his seat in his chair of state. Within his re- 
membrance, and even since his mature age, the site 
where now stood the populous town had been a 
wild and forest-covered peninsula. The province, 
now so fertile and spotted with thriving villages, 
had been a desert wilderness. He was surrounded 
by a shouting multitude, most of whom had been 
born in the country which he had helped to found. 
They were of one generation, and he of another. 

20 As the old man looked upon them, and beheld new 
faces everywhere, he must have felt that it was 
now time for him to go whither his brethren had 
gone before him." 



GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 81 

" Were the former governors all dead and gone ? " 
asked Laurence. 

All of them," replied Grandfather. " Winthrop 
had been dead forty years. Endicott died, a very 
old man, in 1665. Sir Henry Vane was beheaded, 
in London, at the beginning of the reign of Charles 
II. And Haynes, Dudley, Bellingham, and Lev- 
erett, who had all been governors of Massachusetts, 
were now likewise in their graves. Old Simon 
Bradstreet was the sole representative of that de- lo 
parted brotherhood. There was no other public 
man remaining to connect the ancient system of 
government and manners with the new system 
which was about to take its place. The era of the 
Puritans was now completed." 

" I am sorry for it ! " observed Laurence ; " for 
though they were so stern, yet it seems to me that 
there was something warm and real about them. 
I think. Grandfather, that each of these old gov- 
ernors should have his statue set up in our State 20 
House, sculptured out of the hardest of New Eng- 
land granite." 

" It would not be amiss, Laurence," said Grand- 



82 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

father ; " but perhaps clay, or some other perishable 
material, might suffice for some of their successors. 
But let us go back to our chair. It was occupied 
by Governor Bradstreet from April, 1689, until 
May, 1692. Sir William Phipps then arrived in 
Boston with a new charter from King William and 
a commission 1 to be governor." 

1 Commission : a commission is a written statement from the 
king or some high officer, saying tliat the person who holds it has 
been appointed to some particular office, as that of governor, 
captain, judge, etc. 



CHAPTER X 

" And what became of the chair ? " inquired 
Clara. 

" The outward aspect of our chair," replied 
Grandfather, " was now somewhat the worse for 
its long and arduous services. It was considered 
hardly magnificent enough to be allowed to keep 
its place in the council chamber of Massachusetts. 
In fact, it was banished as an article of useless 
lumber. But Sir AVilliam Phipps happened to see 
it, and, being much pleased with its construction, lo 
resolved to take the good old chair into his private 
mansion. Accordingly, with his own gubernato- 
rial ^ hands, he repaired one of its arms, which had 
been slightly damaged." 

" Why, Grandfather, here is the very arm ! " 
interrupted Charley, in great wonderment. '' And 

1 Gubernatorial : pertaining to, or belonging to, the office of 
a governor. 

83 



84 • GRANDFATHER' S CHAIR 

did Sir William Phipps put in these screws with 
his own hands ? I am sure he did it beautifully ! 
But how came a governor to know how to mend a 
chair ? " 

" I will tell you a story about the early life of 
Sir William Phipps," said Grandfather. " You 
will then perceive that he well knew how to use 
his hands." 

So Grandfather related the wonderful and true 
10 tale of 

THE SUNKEN TREASURE 

Picture to yourselves, my dear children, a hand- 
some, old-fashioned room, with a large, open 
cupboard at one end, in which is displayed a mag- 
nificent gold cup, with some other splendid articles 
of gold and silver plate. In another part of the 
room, opposite to a tall looking-glass, stands our 
beloved chair, newly polished, and adorned with a 
gorgeous cushion of crimson velvet tufted with 
gold. 
20 In the chair sits a man of strong and sturdy 
frame, whose face has been roughened by northern 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR Sb 

tempests and blackened by the burning sun of the 
West Indies. He wears an immense periwig,^ 
flowing down over his shoulders. His coat has a 
wide embroidery of golden foliage ; and his waist- 
coat, likewise, is all flowered over and bedizened ^ 
with gold. His red, rough hands, which have 
done many a good day's work with the hammer 
and adze, are half covered by the delicate lace 
ruffles at his wrists. On a table lies his silver- 
hilted sword ; and in a corner of the room stands lo 
his gold-headed cane, made of a beautifully 
polished West India wood. 

Somewhat such an aspect as this did Sir William 
Phipps present when he sat in Grandfather's chair 
after the king had appointed him governor of 
Massachusetts. Truly there was need that the 
old chair should be varnished and decorated with 
a crimson cushion, in order to make it suitable for 
such a magnificent-looking personage. 

But Sir William Phipps had not always worn a 20 
gold-embroidered coat, nor always sat so much at 

1 Periwig : a large head-dress, or wig. 

2 Bedizened : decked out witli great display, in a showy way. 



86 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

his ease as he did in Grandfather's chair. He was 
a poor man's son, and Avas born in the province of 
Maine, where he nsed to tend sheep upon the hills 
in his boyhood and youth. Until he had grown 
to be a man, he did not even know how to read 
and write. Tired of tending sheep, he next ap- 
prenticed himself to a ship-carpenter, and spent 
about four years in hewing the crooked limbs of 
oak-trees into knees for vessels. 

In 1673, when he was twenty-two years old, he 
came to Boston, and soon afterwards was married 
to a Avidow lady, who had property enough to set 
him up in business. It was not long, however, 
before he lost all the money that he had acquired 
by his marriage, and became a poor man again. 
Still he was not -discouraged. He often told his 
wife that, some time or other, he should be very 
rich, and would build a " fair brick house " in the 
Green Lane of Boston. 

Do not suppose, children, that he had been to a 
fortune-teller to inquire his destiny.^ It was his 
own energy and spirit of enterprise, and his resolu- 
1 Destiny : what should happen to him in the future. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 87 

tion to lead an industrious life, that made him 
look forward with so much confidence to better 
days. 

Several years passed away, and William Phipps 
had not yet gained the riches wliich he promised 
to himself. During this time he had begun to 
follow the sea for a living. In tlie year 1684 he 
happened to hear of a Spanish ship w^hich had 
been cast away near the Bahama Islands, and 
which was supposed to contain a great deal of gold lo 
and silver. Phipps went to the place in a small 
vessel, hoping that he should be able to recover 
some of the treasure from the wreck. He did not 
succeed, however, in fishing up gold and silver 
enough to pay the expenses of his voyage. 

But, before he returned, he was told of another 
Spanish ship, or galleon,^ which had been cast 
away near Porto de la Plata. ^ She had now lain 
as much as fifty years beneath the waves. This 

1 Galleon : a three-decked Spanish ship of the 15th to the 
17th century. 

- Porta de la Plata is off the north coast of Haiti in the West 
Indies. 



88 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

old ship had been laden with immense wealth ; 
and, hitherto, nobody had thought of the possi- 
bility of recovering any part of it from the deep 
sea which was rolling and tossing it about. But 
though it was now an old story, and the most 
aged people had almost forgotten that such a 
vessel had been wrecked, William Phipps resolved 
that the sunken treasure should again be brought 
to light. 

He went to London and obtained admittance to 
King James, who had not yet been driven from 
his throne. He told the king of the vast wealth 
that was lying at the bottom of the sea. King 
James listened with attention, and thought this a 
fine opportunity to fill his treasury with Spanish 
gold. He appointed William Phipps to be captain 
of a vessel, called the Rose Algie7\ carrying 
eighteen guns and ninety-five men. So now he 
was Captain Phipps of the English navy. 

Captain Phipps sailed from England in the Rose 
Algier, and cruised for nearly two years in the 
West Indies, endeavoring to find the wreck of the 
Spanish ship. But the sea is so wide and deep 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 89 

that it is no easy matter to discover the exact spot 
where a sunken vessel lies. The prospect of 
success seemed very small ; and most people would 
have thought that Captain Phipps was as far from 
having money enough to build a " fair brick 
house " as he was while he tended sheep. 

The seamen of the Rose Algier became dis- 
couraged, and gave up all hope of making their 
fortunes by discovering the Spanish wreck. They 
wanted to compel Captain Phipps to turn pirate. lo 
There was a much better prospect, they thought, 
of growing rich by plundering vessels which still 
sailed in the sea tlian by seeking for a ship that 
had lain beneath the waves full half a century. 
They broke out in open mutiny ; bat were finally 
mastered by Phipps, and compelled to obey his 
orders. It would have been dangerous, however, 
to continue much longer at sea with such a crew 
of mutinous sailors ; and, besides, the Rose Algier 
was leaky and unseaworthy. So Caj)tain Phipps 20 
judged it best to return to England. 

Before leaving the West Indies, he met with a 
Spaniard, an old man, who remembered the wreck 



90 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

of the Spanish ship, and gave him directions how 
to find the very spot. It was on a reef of rocks, 
a few leagues from Porto de la Plata. 

On his arrival in England, therefore, Captain 
Phipps solicited ^ the king to let him have another 
vessel and send him back again to the West Indies. 
But King James, who had probably expected that 
the Rose Algier would return laden with gold, 
refused to have anything more to do with the 

10 affair. Phipps might never have been able to 
renew the search if the Duke of Albemarle and 
some other noblemen had not lent their assistance. 
They fitted out a ship, and gave the command to 
Captain Phipps. He sailed from England, and 
arrived safely at Porto de la Plata, where he took 
an adze and assisted his men to build a large boat. 
The boat was intended for the purpose of going 
closer to the reef of rocks than a large vessel could 
safely venture. When it was finished, the captain 

20 sent several men in it to examine the spot where 
the Spanish ship was said to have been wrecked. 
They were accompanied by some Indians, who 
1 Solicited : asked earnestly, begged. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 91 

were skilful divers, and could go down a great 
way into the depths of the sea. 

The boat's crew proceeded to the reef of rocks, 
and rowed round and round it a great many times. 
They gazed down into the w^ater, which was so 
transparent that it seemed as if they could have 
seen the gold and silver at the bottom, had there 
been any of those precious metals there. Nothing, 
however, could they see : nothing more valuable 
than a curious sea shrub, which was growing be- lo 
neath the water, in a crevice of the reef of rocks. 
It flaunted to and fro with the swell and reflux of 
the waves, and looked as bright and beautiful as 
if its leaves were gold. 

" We won't go back empty-handed," cried an 
English sailor ; and then he spoke to one of the 
Indian divers. "Dive down and bring me that 
pretty sea shrub there. That's the oidy treasure 
we shall find." 

Down plunged the diver, and soon rose dripping 20 
from the water, holding the sea shrub in his hand. 
But he had learned some new^s at the bottom of 
the sea. 



92 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

" There are some ship's guns," said he, the 
moment he had drawn breath, " some great can- 
non, among the rocks, near where the shrub was 
growing." 

No sooner had he spoken than the English 
sailors knew that they had found the very spot 
where the Spanish galleon had been wrecked, so 
many years before. The other Indian divers im- 
mediately plunged over the boat's side and swam 
[0 headlong down, groping among the rocks and 
sunken cannon. In a few moments one of them 
rose above the water with a heavy lump of silver 
in his arms. The single lump was worth more 
than a thousand dollars. The sailors took it into 
the boat, and then rowed back as speedily as they 
could, being in haste to inform Captain Phipps 
of their good luck. 

But, confidently as the captain had hoped to 

find the Spanish wreck, yet, now that it was really 

20 found, the news seemed too good to be true. He 

could not believe it till the sailors showed him the 

lump of silver. 

" Thanks be to God ! " then cries Captain 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 93 

Phipps. " We shall every man of us make our 
fortunes ! " 

Hereupon the captain and all the crew set to 
work, with iron rakes and great hooks and lines, 
fishing for gold and silver at the bottom of the 
sea. Up came the treasure in abundance. Now 
they beheld a table of solid silver, once the prop- 
erty of an old Spanish grandee.^ Now they found 
a sacramental 2 vessel, which they had destined as 
a gift to some Catholic church. Now they drew lo 
up a golden cup, fit for the King of Spain to drink 
his wine out of. Perhaps the bony hand of its 
former owner had been grasping the precious 
cup, and was drawn up along with it. Now their 
rakes or fishing-lines were loaded with masses of 
silver bullion. There were also precious stones 
among the treasure, glittering and sparkling, so 
that it is a wonder how their radiance could have 
been concealed. 

1 Grandee : a nobleman, a man of high rank. 

■^ Sacramental vessels : vessels such as tlie communion cups 
and pitchers used in celebrating the Communion, or Lord's 
Supper. 



94 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

There is something sad and terrible in the idea 
of snatching all this wealth from the devouring 
ocean, which had possessed it for such a length of 
years. It seems as if men had no right to make 
themselves rich with it. It ought to have been 
left with the skeletons of the ancient Spaniards, 
who had been drowned when the ship was wrecked, 
and whose bones were now scattered among the 
gold and silver. 

10 But Captain Phipps and his crew were troubled 
with no such tlioughts as these. After a day or 
two they lighted on another part of the wreck, 
where they found a great many bags of silver 
dollars. But nobody could have guessed that 
these were money-bags. By remaining so long 
in the salt water, they had become covered over 
with a crust which had the appearance of stone, 
so that it was necessary to break them in pieces 
with hammers and axes. When this was done, 

20 a stream of silver dollars gushed out upon the 
deck of the vessel. 

The whole value of the recovered treasure, 
plate, bullion, precious stones, and all, was esti- 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 95 

mated at more than two millions of dollars. It 
was dangerous even to look at such a vast amount 
of wealth. A sea-captain, who had assisted Phipps 
in the enterprise, utterly lost his reason at the 
sight of it. He died two years afterwards, still 
raving about the treasures that lie at the bottom 
of the sea. It would have been better for this 
man if he had left the skeletons of the shipwrecked 
Spaniards in quiet possession of their wealth. 

Captain Phipps and his men continued to fish lo 
up plate, bullion, and dollars, as plentifully as 
ever, till their provisions grew short. Then, as 
they could not feed upon gold and silver any 
more than old King Midas could, they found it 
necessary to go in search of better sustenance. 
Phipps resolved to return to England. He 
arrived there in 1687, and was received with 
great joy by the Duke of Albemarle and other 
English lords who had fitted out the vessel. 
Well they might rejoice ; for the}^ took by far 20 
the greater part of the treasure to themselves. 

The captain's share, however, was enough to 
make him comfortable for the rest of his days. 



96 GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 

It also enabled him to fulfil his promise to his 
wife by building a " fair brick house " in the 
Green Lane of Boston. The Duke of Allbemarle 
sent Mrs. Phipps a magnificent gold cup, worth 
at least five thousand dollars. Before Captain 
Phipps left London, King James made him a 
knight ; so that, instead of the obscure ship- 
carpenter who liad formerly dwelt among them, 
the inhabitants of Boston welcomed him on liis 
lo return as the rich and famous Sir William Phipps. 



CHAPTER XI 

"SiK William Phipps," continued Grand- 
father, '^ was too active and adventurous a man 
to sit still in the quiet enjoyment of his good 
fortune. In the year 1690 he went on a military 
expedition against the French colonies in America, 
conquered the whole province of Acadia,^ and re- 
turned to Boston with a great deal of plunder." 

" Why, Grandfather, he was the greatest man 
that ever sat in the chair ! " cried Charley. 

" Ask Laurence what he thinks," replied Grand- xo 
father, with a smile. " Well, in the same year, 
Sir William took command of an expedition 
against Quebec, but did not succeed in captur- 
ing the city. In 1692, being then in London, 
King William III appointed him governor of 
Massachusetts. And now, my dear children, hav- 

1 Acadia was about the same country that we know as Nova 
Scotia now. 

H 97 



98 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

ing followed Sir William Phipps through all his 
adventures and hardships till we find him com- 
fortably seated in Grandfather's chair, we will 
here bid him farewell. May he be as happy in 
ruling a people as he was while he tended sheep ! " 
Charley, whose fancy had been greatly taken 
by the adventurous disposition ^ of Sir William 
Phipps, was eager to know how he had acted and 
what happened to him while he held the office of 

10 governor. But Grandfather had made up his 
mind to tell no more stories for the present. 

" Possibly, one of these days, I may go on with 
the adventures of the chair," said he. " But its 
history becomes very obscure just at this point ; 
and I must search into some old books and manu- 
scripts before proceeding farther. Besides, it is 
now a good time to pause in our narrative ; be- 
cause the new charter, which Sir William Phipps 
brought over from England, formed a very impor- 

2otant epoch in the history of the province." 

1 Disposition : a person's disposition is what he is inclined to 
do, or likes to do, as a disposition to work, to study, to wander 
in the woods, etc. 



GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 99 

"Really, Grandfather," observed Laurence, "this 
seems to be the most remarkable chair in the world. 
Its history cannot be told without intertwining it 
wdth the lives of distinguislied men and the great 
events that have befallen the country." 

" True, Laurence," replied Grandfather, smil- 
ing ; " we must write a book with some such title 
as this : Memoirs of my own Times, by Grand- 
father's Chair." 

" That would be beautiful ! " exclaimed Lau- lo 
rence, clapping his hands. 

" But, after all," continued Grandfather, " any 
other old chair, if it possessed memory and a hand 
to write its recollections, could record stranger 
stories than any that I have told you. From 
generation to generation, a chair sits familiarly 
in the midst of human interests, and is witness to 
the most secret and confidential intercourse that 
mortal man can hold with his fellow. The human 
heart may best be read in the fireside chair. And 20 
as to external events. Grief and Joy keep a con- 
tinual vicissitude around it and within it. Now 
we see the glad face and glowing form of Joy, 



Lof 



r 



100 GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 

sitting merrily in the old chair, and throwing a 
warm fire-light radiance over all the household. 
Now, while we thought not of it, the dark-clad 
mourner. Grief, has stolen into the place of Joy, 
but not to retain it long. The imagination can 
hardly grasp so wide a subject as is embraced in 
the experience of a family chair." 

" It makes my breath flutter, my heart thrill, to 

think of it," said Laurence. " Yes, a family chair 

lomust have a deeper history than a chair of state." 

" Oh, yes ! " cried Clara, expressing a woman's 
feeling on the point in question ; " the history of 
a country is not nearly so interesting as that of 
a single family would be." 

" But the history of a country is more easily 
told," said Grandfather. " So, if we proceed with 
our narrative of the chair, I shall still confine my- 
self to its connection witli public events." 

Good old Grandfather now rose and quitted the 

20 room, while the children remained gazing at the 

chair. Laurence, so vivid was his conception ^ of 

past times, would hardly have deemed it strange 

1 Conception : notion, understanding. 



.. V.j 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 101 

if its former occupants, one after another, had 
resumed the seat which they had each left vacant 
such a dim length of years ago. 

First, the gentle and lovely Lady Arbella would 
have been seen in the old chair, almost sinking 
out of its arms for very weakness ; then Roger 
Williams, in his cloak and band, earnest, ener- 
getic, and benevolent ; then the figure of Anne 
Hutchinson, with the like gesture as when she 
presided at the assemblages of women ; then the lo 
dark, intellectual face of Vane, " young in years, 
but in sage counsel old."^ Next would have 
appeared the successive governors, Winthrop, 
Dudley, Bellingham, and Endicott, who sat in the 
chair while it was a chair of state. Then its 
ample seat would have been pressed by the com- 
fortable, rotund corporation ^ of the honest mint- 
master. Then the half-frenzied^ shape of Mary 
Dyer, the persecuted Quaker woman, clad in sack- 

1 This quotation is from Milton's Sonnet on Sir Henry Vane. 

2 Rotund corporation : tlie round body ; this is an uncommon 
use of the word " corporation," and not a good and proper use. 

2 Half -frenzied : half-maddened, crazy. 



102 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

cloth and ashes, wouki have rested in it for a 
moment. Then the holy, Apostolic form of Eliot 
Avould have sanctified it. Then would have arisen, 
like the shade of departed Puritanism, the vener- 
able dignity of the white-bearded Governor Brad- 
street. Lastly, on the gorgeous crimson cushion 
of Grandfather's chair, would have shown the 
purple and golden magnificence of Sir William 
Phipps. 

lo But all these, with the other historic person- 
ages, in the midst of whom the chair had so often 
stood, had passed, both in substance and shadow, 
from the scene of ages. Yet here stood the chair, 
with the old Lincoln coat of arms, and the oaken 
flowers and foliage, and tlie fierce lion's head at 
the summit, the whole, apparently, in as perfect 
preservation as when it had first been placed in 
the Earl of Lincoln's hall. And what vast 
changes of society and of nations had been 

20 wrought by sudden convulsions or by slow 
degrees since that era ! 

" This chair had stood firm when the thrones of 
kings were overturned," thought Laurence. " Its 



grandfather's chair 103 

oaken frame has proved stronger than many 
frames of government ! " 

More the thoughtful and imaginative boy might 
have mused ; but now a large yellow cat, a great 
favorite with all the children, leaped in at the 
open window. Perceiving that Grandfather's 
chair was empty, and having often before expe- 
rienced its comforts, puss laid himself quietly 
down upon the cushion. Laurence, Clara, Charley, 
and little Alice all laughed at the idea of such a lo 
successor to the worthies of old times. 

" Pussy," said little Alice, putting out her hand, 
into which the cat laid a velvet paw, " you look 
very wise. Do tell us a story about Grand- 
father's Chair." 



CHAPTER XII 

" Oh, Grandfather, clear Grandfather," cried 
little Alice, " pray tell us some more stories about 
your chair." 

How long a time had fled since the children 
had felt any curiosity to hear the sequel^ of this 
venerable chair's adventures ! Summer was now 
past and gone, and the better part of autumn 
likewise. Drear}^, chill November was howling 
out of doors, and vexing the atmosphere with 
10 sudden showers of wintry rain, or sometimes with 
gusts of snow, that rattled like small pebbles 
against the windows. 

When the weather began to grow cool. Grand- 
father's chair had been removed from the summer 
parlor into a smaller and snugger room. It now 
stood by the side of a bright, blazing, wood fire. 

1 Sequel : the sequel of anything is what follows, as a result 
of the first part, or a continuation of the first part. 

104 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 106 

Grandfather loved a wood fire far better than 
a grate of glowing anthracite, or than the dull 
heat of an invisible ^ furnace, which seems to 
think that it has done its duty in merely warming 
the house. But the wood fire is a kindly, cheer- 
ful, social spirit, sympathizing with mankind, and 
knowing that to create warmth is but one of the 
good offices which are expected from it. There- 
fore it dances on the hearth, and laughs broadly 
throughout the room, and plays a thousand antics, lo 
and throws a joyous glow over all the faces that 
encircle it. 

In the twilight of the evening the fire grew 
brighter and more cheerful. And thus, perhaps, 
there was something in Grandfather's heart that 
cheered him most with its warmth and comfort in 
the gathering twilight of old age. He had been 
gazing at the red embers as intently as if his past 
life were all pictured there, or as if it were a pros- 

1 Invisible : unseen. In the colonial days the houses were 
heated entirely by fireplaces. Stoves were a later invention 
and furnaces, which were put down in the cellar, and hence 
were invisible, were of a much later date. 



106 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

pect of the future world, when little Alice's voice 
aroused him. *^ Dear Grandfather," repeated the 
little girl, more earnestly, " do talk to us again 
about your chair." 

Laurence, and Clara, and Charley, and little 
Alice had been attracted to other objects for two 
or three months past. They had sported in the 
gladsome sunshine of the present, and so had for- 
gotten the shadowy region of the past, in the midst 

10 of which stood Grandfather's chair. But now, in 
the autumnal twilight, illuminated by the flicker- 
ing blaze of the wood fire, they looked at the old 
chair, and thought that it had never before worn 
such an interesting aspect. There it stood in the 
venerable majesty of more than two hundred 
years. The light from the hearth quivered upon 
the flowers and foliao^e that were wrouHit into its 
oaken back ; and the lion's head at the summit 
seemed almost to move its jaws and shake its 

20 mane. 

" Does little Alice speak for all of you ? " asked 
Grandfather. " Do you wish me to go on with 
the adventures of the chair ? " 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 107 

'' Oh, yes, 5^es, Grandfather ! " cried Clara. 
" The. dear old chair ! How strange that we 
should have forg-otten it so loner ! " 

'' Oh, pray begin, Grandfather," said Laurence, 
" for I think, when we talk about old times, it 
should be in the early evening, before the candles 
are lighted. The shapes of the famous persons 
who once sat in the chair will be more apt to come 
back, and be seen among us, in this glimmer and 
pleasant gloom, than they would in the vulgar ^ lo 
daylight. And, besides, we can make pictures of 
all that you tell us among the glowing embers and 
white ashes." 

Our friend Charley, too, thought the evening 
the best time to hear Grandfather's stories, because 
he could not then be playing out of doors. So 
finding his young auditors unanimous in their 
petition, the good old gentleman took up the nar- 
rative of the historic chair at the point where he 
had dropped it. 20 

1 Vulgar : the original meaning of this word was " common." 
It did not have any bad meaning, nor does it in this place. 



CHAPTER XIII 

" You recollect, my dear children," said Grand- 
father, ''that we took leave of the chair in 1692, 
while it was occupied by Sir William Phipps. 
This fortunate treasure-seeker, you will remember, 
had come over from England, with King William's 
commission, to be governor of Massachusetts. 
Within the limits of this province were now in- 
cluded the old colony of Plymouth and the terri- 
tories of Maine and Nova Scotia. Sir William 
10 Phipps had likewise brought a new charter from 
the king, which served instead of a constitution, 
and set forth the method in which the province 
was to be governed." 

" Did the new charter allow the people all their 
former liberties ? " inquired Laurence. 

"No," replied Grandfather. "Under the first 
charter, the people had been the source of all 

108 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 109 

power. Winthrop, Endicott, Bradstreet, and the 
rest of them had been governors by the choice of 
the people, without any interference of the king. 
But henceforth the governor was to hokl his 
station solely by the king's appointment and dur- 
ing his pleasure ; and the same was the case with 
the lieutenant-governor and some other high offi- 
cers. The peojjle, however, were still allowed to 
choose representatives; and the governor's council 
was chosen by the General Court." i° 

" Would the inhabitants have elected Sir Will- 
iam Phipps," asked Laurence, " if the choice of 
governor had been left to them ? " 

" He might probably have been a successful can- 
didate," answered Grandfather ; " for his adven- 
tures and military enterprises had gained him a 
sort of renown, which always goes a great way 
with the people. And he had many popular 
characteristics,^ — being a kind, warm-hearted 
man, not ashamed of his low origin nor haughty 20 
in his present elevation. Soon after his arrival, 

1 Popular characteristics : those qualities which made him 
admired by, or endeared him to, the people. 



110 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

he proved that he did not blush to recognize his 
former associates." 

'* How was that ? " inquired Charley. 

" He made a grand festival at his new brick 
house," said Grandfather, " and invited all the 
ship-carpenters of Boston to be his guests. At 
tho- head of the table, in our great chair, sat Sir 
William Phipps himself, treating tliese hard- 
handed men as his brethren, cracking jokes with 
10 them, and talking familiarly about old times. I 
know not whether he wore his embroidered dress ; 
but I rather choose to imagine that he had on a 
suit of rough clothes, such as he used to labor in 
while he was Phipps the ship-carpenter." 

" An aristocrat ^ need not be ashamed of the 
trade," observed Laurence ; " for the Czar Peter 
the Great once served an apprenticeship to it." 

" Did Sir William Phipps make as good a gov- 
ernor as he was a ship-carpenter ? " asked Charley. 

1 Aristocrat : a person who is proud of his forefathers, of his 
wealth, or of his descent from some old family, especially one 
who belongs to the higher classes, and looks down on the poorer 
ones. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 111 

" History says but little about liis merits as a 
ship-carpenter," answered Grandfather ; " but, as 
a governor, a great deal of fault was found with 
him. Almost as soon as he assumed the govern- 
ment he became engaged in a very frightful busi- 
ness, which might have perplexed a wiser and 
better cultivated head than his. This was the 
witchcraft delusion." 

And here Grandfather gave his auditors such 
details of this melancholy affair as he thought it lo 
fit for them to know. They shuddered to hear 
that a frenzy, which led to the death of many 
innocent persons, had originated in the wicked 
arts of a few children. They belonged to the 
Rev. Mr. Parris, minister of Salem. These chil- 
dren complained of being pinched and pricked 
with pins, and otherwise tormented by the shapes 
of men and women, who were supposed to have 
power to haunt them invisibly, both in darkness 
and daylight. Often in the midst of their family 20 
and friends the children would pretend to be seized 
with strange convulsions, and would cry out that 
the witches were afflicting them. 



112 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

These stories spread abroad, and caused great 
tumult and alarm. From the foundation of New 
England, it had been the custom of the inhabitants, 
in all matters of doubt and difficulty, to look to 
their ministers for counsel. So they did now ; 
but, unfortunately, the ministers and wise men 
were more deluded than the illiterate people. 
Cotton Mather, a very learned and eminent clergy- 
man, believed that the whole country was full of 

10 witches and wizards, who had given up their 
hopes of heaven, and signed a covenant with the 
evil one. 

Nobody could be certain that his nearest neigh- 
bor or most intimate friend was not guilty of this 
imaginary crime. The number of those who pre- 
tended to be afflicted by witchcraft grew daily 
more numerous ; and they bore testimony against 
many of the best and w^orthiest people. A minis- 
ter, named George Burroughs, was among the 

20 accused. In the months of August and Septem- 
ber, 1692, he and nineteen other innocent men 
and women were put to death. The place of exe- 
cution was a high hill, on the outskirts of Salem ; 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 113 

SO that many of the sufferers, as they stood be- 
neath the gallows, could discern their own habita- 
tions in the town. 

The martyrdom of these guiltless persons seemed 
only to increase the madness. The afflicted now 
grew bolder in their accusations. Many people of 
rank ^ and wealth were either thrown into prison 
or compelled to flee for their lives. Among these 
were two sons of old Simon Bradstreet, the last of 
the Puritan governors. Mr. Willard, a pious lo 
minister of Boston, was cried out upon as a wizard 
in open court. Mrs. Hale, the wife of the minis- 
ter of Beverly, was likewise accused. Philip 
English, a rich merchant of Salem, found it neces- 
sary to take flight, leaving his property and busi- 
ness in confusion. But a short time afterward the 
Salem people were glad to invite him back. 

" The boldest thing that the accusers did," con- 
tinued Grandfather, " was to cry out against the 
governor's own beloved wife. Yes, the lady of 20 
Sir William Phipps was accused of being a witch 

1 Rank : belonging to the higher classes, as different from 
the common people. 



114 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

and of flying through the air to attend witch- 
meetings. When the governor heard this he 
probably trembled, so that our great chair shook 
beneath him." 

" Dear Grandfather," cried little Alice, clinging 
closer to his knee, "is it true that witches ever 
come in the night-time to frighten little chil- 
dren ? " 

" No, no, dear little Alice," replied Grandfather. 

10 " Even if there were any witches, they would flee 
away from the presence of a pure-hearted child. 
But there are none ; and our forefathers soon be- 
came convinced that they had been led into a ter- 
rible delusion. All the prisoners on account of 
witchcraft were set free. But the innocent dead 
could not be restored to life ; and the hill where 
they were executed will always remind people of 
the saddest and most humiliating passage in our 
history." 

20 Grandfather then said that the next remarkable 
event, while Sir William Phipps remained in the 
chair, was the arrival at Boston of an English fleet 
in 1693. It brought an army which was intended 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 115 

for the conquest of Canada. But a malignant ^ 
disease, more fatal than the small-pox, broke out 
among the soldiers and sailors, and destroyed the 
greater part of them. The infection ^ spread into 
the town of Boston, and made much havoc there. 
This dreadful sickness caused the governor and 
Sir Francis Wheeler, who was commander of the 
British forces, to give up all thoughts of attacking 
Canada. 

" Soon after this," said Grandfather, " Sir Will- k 
iam Phipps quarrelled with the captain of an Eng- 
lish frigate, and also with the collector of Boston. 
Being a man of violent temper, he gave each of 
them a sound beating with his cane." 

" He was a bold fellow," observed Charley, who 
was himself somewhat addicted " to a similar mode 
of settling disputes. 

" More bold than wise," replied Grandfather ; 
" for complaints were carried to the king, and Sir 

1 Malignant : a malignant disease is a severe one, usually so 
severe that it threatens life. 

2 Infection : here the word means the disease. 

2 Addicted to : to be in the habit of, to be given up to. 



116 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

William Pliipps was summoned to England to 
make the best answer he could. Accordingly he 
went to London, where, in 1695, he was seized 
with a malignant fever, of which he died. Had 
he lived longer, he would probably have gone 
again in search of sunken treasure. He had heard 
of a Spanish ship, which was cast away in 1502, 
during the lifetime of Columbus. Bovadilla, Rol- 
dan, and many other Spaniards were lost in her, to- 

10 gether with the immense wealth of which they had 
robbed the South American kings." 

'4 Why, Grandfather ! " exclaimed Laurence, 
" what magnificent ideas the governor had ! Only 
think of recovering all that old treasure which had 
lain almost two centuries under the sea ! Methinks 
Sir William Phipps ought to have been buried in 
the ocean when he died, so that he might have 
gone down among the sunken ships and cargoes 
of treasure which he was always dreaming about 

20 in his lifetime." 

" He was buried in one of the crowded ceme- 
teries of London," said Grandfather. " As he left 
no children, his estate was inherited by his 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 117 

nephew, from whom is descended the present 
Marquis of Normandy. The noble Marquis is 
not aw^are, perhaps, that the prosperity of his family 
originated in the successful enterprise of a New 
England ship-carpenter. " 



CHAPTER XIV 

" At the death of Sir William Phipps," pro- 
ceeded Grandfather, " our chair was bequeathed to 
Mr. Ezekiel Cheever, a famous schoolmaster in 
Boston. This old gentleman came from London 
in 1637, and had been teaching school ever since; 
so that there were now aged men, grandfathers 
like myself, to whom Master Cheever had taught 
their alphabet. He was a person of venerable 
aspect, and wore a long white beard." 

" Was the chair placed in his school ? " asked 
Charley. 

" Yes, in his school," answered Grandfather ; 
" and we may safely say that it had never before 
been regarded with such awful reverence, — no, 
not even when the old governors of Massachusetts 
sat in it. Even you, Charley, my boy, would have 
felt some respect for the chair if you had seen it 
occupied by this famous schoolmaster." 

118 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 119 

And here Grandfather endeavored to give his 
auditors an idea how matters were managed in 
schools above a hundred years ago. As this 
will probably be an interesting subject to our 
readers, we shall make a separate sketch of it, 
and call it 



THE OLD-FASHIONED SCHOOL 

Now, imagine yourselves, my children, in Master 
Ezekiel Cheever's schoolroom. It is a large, 
dingy room, with a sanded floor, and is lighted by 
windows that turn on hinges and have little dia- lo 
niond-shaped panes of glass. The scholars sit on 
long benches, with desks before them. At one 
end of the room is a great fireplace, so very spa- 
cious that there is room enough for three or four 
boys to stand in each of the chimney corners. 
This was the good old fashion of fireplaces when 
there was wood enough in the forests to keep 
people warm without their digging into the bowels 
of the earth for coal. 

It is a winter's day when we take our peep into 20 



120 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

the schoolroom. See what great logs of wood 
have been rolled into the fireplace, and what a 
broad, bright blaze goes leaping up the chimney ! 
And every few moments a vast cloud of smoke is 
puffed into the room, which sails slowly over the 
heads of the scholars, until it gradually settles 
upon the walls and ceiling. They are blackened 
with the smoke of many years already. 

Next look at our old historic chair ! It is placed, 

30 you perceive, in the most comfortable part of the 
room, where the generous glow of the fire is suffi- 
ciently felt without being too intensely hot. How 
stately the old chair looks, as if it remembered its 
many famous occupants, but yet were conscious 
that a greater man is sitting in it now ! Do you 
see the venerable schoolmaster, severe in aspect, 
with a black skullcap on his head, like an ancient 
Puritan, and the snow of his white beard drifting 
down to his very girdle ? What boy would dare 

20 to play, or whisper, or ever glance aside from his 
book, while Master Cheever is on the lookout 
behind his spectacles ? For such offenders, if any 
such there be, a rod of birch is hanging over the 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 121 

fireplace, and a heavy ferule ^ lies on the master's 
desk. 

And now school is begun. What a murmur of 
multitudinous tongues, like the whispering leaves 
of a wind-stirred oak, as the scholars con^ over 
their various tasks ! Buzz ! buzz ! buzz ! Amid 
just such a murmur has Master Cheever spent 
above sixty years ; and long habit has made it as 
pleasant to him as the hum of a beehive when the 
insects are busy in the sunshine. 

Now a class in Latin is called to recite. Forth 
steps a row of queer-looking little fellows, wear- 
ing square-skirted coats and small-clothes, with 
buttons at the knee. They look like so many 
grandfathers in their second childhood. These 
lads are to be sent to Cambridge^ and educated 
for the learned professions. Old Master Cheever 
has lived so long, and seen so many generations of 

1 Ferule : a piece of wood something like a ruler, used for 
striking the open hand of a pupil for punishment. It was much 
used in former days, but is practically out of use in intelligent 
communities in these days. 

2 Con : to study over. 

3 Cambridge : the seat of Harvard University. 



122 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

schoolboys grow up to be men, that now he can 
almost prophesy what sort of a man each boy will 
be. One urchin shall hereafter be a doctor, and 
administer pills and potions, and stalk gravely 
through life, perfumed with assafoetida. Another 
shall wrangle at the bar, and fight his way to 
wealth and honors, and, in his declining age, shall 
be a worshipful member of his Majesty's council. 
A third — and he is the master's favorite — shall 
10 be a worthy successor to the old Puritan ministers 
now in their graves ; he shall preach with great 
unction and effect, and leave volumes of sermons, 
in print and manuscript, for the benefit of future 
generations. 

But, as they are merely schoolboys now, their 
business is to construe ^ Virgil. Poor Virgil ! 
whose verses, which he took so much pains to 
polish, have been misscanned,^ and misparsed, and 

1 Construe : to explain, to translate into the English language. 
Note that the word " construe " is accented on the first syllable. 

2 Misscanned : scanning is reading any poetry so as to show 
the accent and metre properly. It is necessary to study Latin 
before one can fully understand just what Mr. Hawthorne means 
by this word. 



grandfather's chair 123 

misinterpreted by so many generations of idle 
schoolboys. There, sit down, ye Latinists. Two 
or three of you, I fear, are doomed to feel the 
master's ferule. 

Next comes a class in arithmetic. These boys 
are to be the merchants, shopkeepers, and mechan- 
ics of a future period. Hitherto they have traded 
only in marbles and apples. Hereafter some will 
send vessels to England for broadcloths and all 
sorts of manufactured wares, and to the West lo 
Indies for sugar, and rum, and coffee. Others 
will stand behind counters, and measure tape, and 
ribbon, and cambric by the yard. Others will 
upheave the blacksmith's hammer, or drive the 
plane over the carpenter's bench, or take the lap- 
stone and the awl and learn the trade of shoemak- 
ing. Many will follow the sea, and become bold, 
rough sea-captains. 

This class of boys, in short, must supply the 
world with those active, skilful hands, and clear, 20 
sagacious ^ heads, without which the affairs of life 
would be thrown into confusion by the theories of 
1 Sagacious : wise. 



124 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

studious and visionary ^ men. Wherefore, teach 
them their multiplication-table, good Master Chee- 
ver, and whip them well when they deserve it ; for 
much of the country's welfare depends on these 
boys. 

But, alas ! while we have been thinking of other 
matters, Master Cheever's watchful eye has caught 
two boys at play. Now we shall see awful times. 
The two malefactors 2 are summoned before the 
10 master's chair, wherein he sits with the terror of 
a judge upon his brow. Our old chair is now a 
judgment-seat. Ah, Master Cheever has taken 
down that terrible birch rod ! Short is the trial, 
— the sentence quickly passed, — and now the 
judge prepares to execute it in person. Thwack I 
thwack ! thwack ! In these good old times, a 
schoolmaster's blows were well laid on. 

See, the birch rod has lost several of its twigs, 
and will hardly serve for another execution. 

1 Visionary : a visionary man is one who is dreamy, who is 
engaged in planning things that will never come to pass, one who 
is imaginative. 

2 Malefactors : evil-doers. 



GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 125 

Mercy on us, what a bellowing the urchins make ! 
My ears are almost deafened, though the clamor 
comes through the far length of a hundred and 
fifty years. There, go to your seats, poor boys ; 
and do not cry, sweet little Alice, for they have 
ceased to feel the pain a long time since. 

And thus the forenoon passes away. Now it is 
twelve o'clock. The master looks at his great sil- 
ver watch, and then, with tiresome deliberation, 
puts the ferule into his desk. The little multi- xo 
tude await the word of dismissal with almost 
irrepressible impatience. 

'^ You are dismissed," says Master Cheever. 

The boys retire, treading softly until they have 
passed the threshold ; but, fairly out of the school- 
room, lo, what a joyous shout ! what a scampering 
and trampling of feet I what a sense of recovered 
freedom expressed in the merry uproar of all their 
voices ! What care they for the ferule and birch 
rod now ? Were boys created merely to study 20 
Latin and arithmetic ? No ; the better purposes 
of their being are to sport, to leap, to run, to shout, 
to slide upon the ice, to snowball. 



126 grandfather's chair 

Happy boys ! Enjoy your playtime now, and 
come again to study and to feel the birch rod and 
the ferule to-morrow ; not till to-morrow ; for to- 
day is Thursday lecture^; and, ev^er since the set- 
tlement of Massachusetts, there has been no school 
on Thursday afternoons. Therefore sport, bo3^s, 
while you may, for the morrow cometh, with the 
birch rod and the ferule ; and after that another 
morrow w^ith troubles of its own. 
10 Now the master has set everything to rights, 
and is ready to go home to dinner. Yet he goes 
reluctantly. The old man has spent so much of 
his life in the smoky, noisy, buzzing schoolroom, 
that, when he has a holiday, he feels as if his place 
were lost and himself a stranger in the world. 
But forth he goes ; and there stands our old chair, 
vacant and solitary, till good Master Cheever re- 
sumes his seat in it to-morrow morning. 

1 In the colonial days, school children did not have their Sat- 
urdays for holidays as we have them now, but they were allowed 
Thursday afternoon for freedom from school duties, but were 
obliged to attend the Thursday afternoon lecture, which was 
usually a religious lecture, much like a regular Sunday service 
in church. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 127 

" Grandfather," said Charley, "I wonder whether 
the boys did not use to upset the okl chair when 
the schoolmaster was out." 

'' There is a tradition," replied Grandfather, 
" that one of its arms was dislocated in some such 
manner. But I cannot believe that any school- 
boy would behave so naughtily." 

As it was now later than little Alice's usual 
bedtime. Grandfather broke off his narrative, 
promising to talk more about Master Cheever and lo 
his scholars some other evening. 



CHAPTER XV 

Accordingly, the next evening, Grandfather 
resumed the history of his beloved chair. 

^' Master Ezekiel Cheever," said he, " died in 
1707, after having taught school about seventy 
years. It would require a pretty good scholar in 
arithmetic to tell how many stripes he had in- 
flicted, and how many birch rods he had worn out, 
during all that time, in his fatherly tenderness for 
his pupils. Almost all the great men of that 
[o period, and for many years back, had been whipped 
into eminence by Master Cheever. Moreover, he 
had written a Latin Accidence,^ which was used 
in schools more than half a century after his death ; 
so that the good old man, even in his grave, was 
still the cause of trouble and stripes to idle school- 
boys." 

Grandfather proceeded to say, that, when Master 
1 This means a Latin Grammar in this place. 
128 



GRANDFATHER^S CHAIR 129 

Cheever died, he bequeathed the chair to the most 
learned man that was educated at his school, or 
that had ever been born in America. This was 
the renowned Cotton Mather, minister of the Old 
North Church in Boston. 

" And author of the Magnalia, Grandfather, 
which we sometimes see you reading," said 
Laurence. 

" Yes, Laurence," replied Grandfather. " The 
Magnalia is a strange, pedantic ^ history, in which lo 
true events and real personages move before the 
reader with the dreamy aspect which they wore 
in Cotton Mather's singular mind. This huge 
volume, however, was written and published before 
our chair came into his possession. But as he was 
the author of more books than there are days in 
the year, we may conclude that he wrote a great 
deal while sitting in this chair." 

1 Pedantic : a pedant is a scholar or writer who makes a great 
display of his learning. In this history Cotton Matlier wrote 
much that was of no special interest or value, just to show how 
much he knew about different things. Hence his history is 
called pedantic. 



130 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

" I am tired of these schoolmasters and learned 
men," said Charley. " I wish some stirring man, 
that knew how to do something in the world, like 
Sir William Phipps, would sit in the chair." 

" Such men seldom have leisure to sit quietly 
in a chair," said Grandfather. " We must make 
the best of such people as we have." 

As Cotton Mather was a very distinguished 
man. Grandfather took some pains to give the 
10 children a lively conception of his character. Over 
the door of his library were painted these words, 
BE SHORT, — as a warning to visitors that they 
must not do the world so much harm as needlessly 
to interrupt this great man's wonderful labors. 
On entering the room you would probably behold 
it crowded, and piled, and heaped with books. 
There were huge, ponderous folios, and quartos, 
and little duodecimos,^ in English, Latin, Greek, 
Hebrew, Chaldaic, and all other languages that 
20 either originated at the confusion of Babel ^ or 
have since come into use. 

^ These names are names for different sizes of books. 
2 Babel : see the Bible, Genesis, Chapter XI. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 131 

All these books, no doubt, were tossed about in 
confusion, thus forming a visible emblem of the 
manner in which their contents were crowded into 
Cotton Mather's brain. And in the middle of the 
room stood a table, on which, besides printed vol- 
umes, were strewn manuscript sermons, historical 
tracts, and political pamphlets, all written in such 
a queer, blind, crabbed, fantastical hand, that a 
writing-master would have gone raving mad at 
the sight of them. Bv this table stood Grand- lo 
father's chair, which seemed to have contracted 
an air of deep erudition, as if its cushion were 
stuffed with Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and other 
hard matters. 

In this chair, from one year's end to another, 
sat that prodigious bookworm. Cotton Mather, 
sometimes devouring a great book, and sometimes 
scribbling one as big. In Grandfather's younger 
days there used to be a wax figure of him in one 
of the Boston museums, representing a solemn, 20 
dark-visaged person, in a minister's black gown, 
and with a black-letter volume before him. 

" It is difficult, my children," observed Grand- 



132 GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 

father, " to make you understand such a charac- 
ter as Cotton Mather's, in whom there was so 
much good, and yet so many failings and frailties. 
Undoubtedly he was a pious man. Often he kept 
fasts ; and once, for three whole days, he allowed 
himself not a morsel of food, but spent the time 
in prayer and religious meditation. Many a live- 
long night did he watch and pray. These fasts 
and vigils made him meagre and haggard, and 

10 probably caused him to appear as if lie hardly 
belonged to the world." 

" Was not the witchcraft delusion partly caused 
by Cotton Mather ? " inquired Laurence. 

" He was the chief agent of the mischief," an- 
swered Grandfather ; " but we will not suppose 
that he acted otherwise than conscientiously. He 
believed that there were evil spirits all about the 
world. Doubtless he imagined that they were 
hidden in the corners and crevices of his library, 

20 and that they peeped out from among the leaves 
of many of his books, as he turned them over, at 
midnight. He supposed that these unlovely de- 
mons were everywhere, in the sunshine, as well 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 133 

as in the darkness, and that they were hidden 
in men's hearts, and stole into their most secret 
thoughts." 

Here Grandfather was interrupted by little 
Alice, who hid her face in his lap, and mur- 
mured a wish that he would not talk any more 
about Cotton Mather and the evil spirits. Grand- 
father kissed her, and told her that angels were 
the only spirits whom she had anything to do 
with. He then spoke of the public affairs of the lo 
period. 

A new war between France and England had 
broken out in 1702, and had been raging ever 
since. In the course of it, New England suffered 
much injury from the French and Indians, who 
often came through the woods from Canada and 
assaulted the frontier ^ towns. Villages were some- 
times burned, and the inhabitants slaughtered, 
witliin a day's ride of Boston. The people of 
New England had a bitter hatred against the 20 
French, not only for the mischief which they did 

1 Frontier : the border, the dividing line between the settled 
and the unsettled parts of a new country. 



134 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

with their own hands, but because they incited 
the Indians to liostility. 

The New-Enghinders knew that they could 
never dwell in security until the provinces of 
France should be subdued and brought under the 
English government. They frequently, in time 
of war, undertook military expeditions against 
Acadia and Canada, and sometimes besieged the 
fortresses by which those territories were de- 

10 fended. But the most earnest wish of their hearts 
was to take Quebec, and so get possession of the 
whole province of Canada. Sir William Phipps 
had once attempted it, but without success. 

Fleets and soldiers were often sent from Eng- 
land to assist the colonists in their warlike under- 
takings. In 1710 Port Royal, a fortress of 
Acadia, was taken by the English. The next 
year, in the month of June, a fleet, commanded 
by Admiral Sir Hovenden Walker, arrived in 

20 Boston Harbor. On board of this fleet was the 
English General Hill, with seven regiments of 
soldiers, who had been fighting under the Duke 
of Marlborough in Flanders. The government of 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 135 

Massachusetts was called upon to find provisions 
for the army and fleet, and to raise more men to 
assist in taking Canada. 

What with recruiting and drilling of soldiers, 
there Avas now nothing but warlike bustle in the 
streets of Boston. The drum and fife, the rattle 
of arms, and the shouts of boys were heard from 
morning till night. In about a month the fleet 
set sail, carrying four regiments from New Eng- 
land and New York, besides the English soldiers. lo 
The whole army amounted to at least seven thou- 
sand men. They steered for the mouth of the 
river St. Lawrence. 

" Cotton Mather prayed most fervently for 
their success," continued Grandfather, " both in 
his pulpit and when he kneeled down in the soli- 
tude of his library, resting his face on our old 
chair. But Providence ordered the result other- 
wise. In a few weeks tidings were received that 
eight or nine of the vessels had been wrecked in 20 
the St. Lawrence, and that above a thousand 
drowned soldiers had been washed ashore on the 
banks of that mighty river. After this misfor- 



136 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

tune Sir Hovenden Walker set sail for England ; 
and many pious people began to think it a sin even 
to wish for the conquest of Canada." 

" I would never give it up so," cried Charley. 
" Nor did they, as we shall see," replied Grand- 
father. '' However, no more attempts were made 
during this war, which came to a close in 1713. 
The people of New England were probably glad 
of some repose ; for their young men had been 

10 made soldiers, till many of them were fit for noth- 
ing else. And those who remained at home had 
been heavily taxed to pay for the arms, ammuni- 
tion, fortifications, and all the other endless ex- 
penses of a war. There was great need of the 
prayers of Cotton Mather and of all pious men, 
not only on account of the sufferings of the people, 
but because the old moral and religious character 
of New England was in danger of being utterly 
lost." 

20 " How glorious it would have been," remarked 
Laurence, " if our forefathers could have kept the 
country unspotted with blood I " 

^' Yes," said Grandfather j '' but there was a 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 137 

stern, warlike spirit in them from the beginning. 
They seem never to have thonght of questioning 
either the morality or piety of war." 

The next event which Grandfather spoke of 
was one that Cotton Mather, as well as most of the 
other inhabitants of New England, heartily re- 
joiced at. This was the accession ^ of the Elector 
of Hanover to the throne of England, in 1714, on 
the death of Queen Anne. Hitherto the people 
had been in continual dread that the male line of lo 
the Stuarts,^ who were descended from the be- 
headed King Charles and the banished King 
James, would be restored to the throne. 

" The importance of this event," observed 
Grandfather, " was a thousand times greater than 
that of a Presidential election in our own days. If 
the people dislike their President, they may get rid 

1 Accession : coming into power, obtaining the throne, be- 
coming king. 

'^ Stuarts : the name of the ruling line of kings in England 
from 1603 to 1714. For the most part, they were unpopular 
rulers, and opposed to the rights which the people were striving 
for. 



138 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

of him in four years ; whereas a dynasty ^ of kings 
may wear the crown for an unlimited period." 

The German elector ^ was proclaimed king from 
the balcony of the town-house in Boston, by the 
title of George I ; while the trumpets sounded, 
and the people cried amen. That night the town 
was illuminated; and Cotton Mather threw aside 
book and pen, and left Grandfather's chair vacant, 
while he walked hither and thither to witness the 
10 rejoicings. 

1 Dynasty : a family of kings, snch as the Stuarts. 

2 Elector : a German prince of the past centuries who with 
other similar men had the right of electing the German em- 
peror. There is no such office now. 



CHAPTER XVI 

*' Cotton Mather," continued Grandfather, 
" was a bitter enemy to Governor Dudley ; and 
nobody exulted more than he when that crafty 
politician was removed from the government, and 
succeeded by Colonel Shute. This took place in 
1716. The new governor had been an olTticer in 
the renowned Duke of Marlborough's army, and 
had fought in some of the great battles in 
Flanders." 

" Now I hope," said Charley, '' we shall hear of lo 
his doing great things." 

'' I am afraid you will be disappointed, Charley," 
answered Grandfather. " It is true that Colonel 
Shute had probably never led so unquiet a life 
while fighting the French as he did now, while 
governing this province of Massachusetts Bay. 
But his troubles consisted almost entirely of dis- 
sensions with the Legislature. The king had 

139 



140 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

ordered liim to lay claim to a fixed salary ; but 
the representatives of the people insisted upon 
paying him only such sums from year to year as 
they saw fit." 

Grandfather here explained some of the circum- 
stances that made the situation of a colonial gov- 
ernor so difficult and irksome. There was not the 
same feeling towards the chief magistrate now that 
had existed while he was chosen by the free suf- 

lofrages^ of the people. It was felt that as the 
king appointed the governor, and as he held his 
office during the king's pleasure, it would be his 
great object to please the king. But the people 
thought that a governor ought to have nothing in 
view but the best interests of those whom he 
governed. 

" The governor," remarked Grandfather, " had 
two masters to serve, — the king who appointed 
him ; and the people, on whom he depended for 

20 his pay. P^ew men in this position would have 
ingenuity enough to satisfy either party. Colonel 
Shute, though a good-natured, well-meaning man, 
1 Suffrages : votes. 



GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 141 

succeeded so ill with the people, that, in 1722, he 
suddenly went away to England and made com- 
plaint to King George. In the meantime Lieu- 
tenant-Governor Dummer directed the affairs of 
the province, and carried on a long and bloody 
war Avith the Indians." 

" But where was our chair all this time ? " 
asked Clara. 

" It still remained in Cotton Mather's library," 
replied Grandfather; "and I must not omit to lo 
tell you an incident which is very much to the 
honor of this celebrated man. It is the more 
proper, too, that you should hear it, because it will 
show you what a terrible calamity the small -pox 
was to our forefathers. The history of the prov- 
ince (and, of course, the history of our chair) 
would be incomplete without particular mention 
of it." 

Accordingly Grandfather told the children a 
story, to which, for want of a better title, we shall 20 
give that of 



142 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 



THE REJECTED BLESSING 

One day, in 1721, Doctor Cotton Mather sat in 
his library reading a book that had been published 
by the Royal Society of London. But every few 
moments he laid the book upon the table, and 
leaned back in Grandfather's chair with an aspect 
of deep care and disquietude. There were certain 
things Avhich troubled him exceedingly, so that he 
could hardly fix his thoughts upon what he read. 

It was now a gloomy time in Boston. That 
10 terrible disease, the small-pox, had recently made 
its appearance in the town. Ever since the first 
settlement of the country this awful pestilence 
had come at intervals, and swept away multitudes 
of the inhabitants. Whenever it commenced its 
ravages, nothing seemed to stay its progress until 
there were no more victims for it to seize upon. 
Oftentimes hundreds of people at once lay groan- 
ing with its agony ; and when it departed, its 
deep footsteps were always to be traced in many 
20 graves. 

The people never felt secure from this calamity. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 143 

Sometimes, perhaps, it was brought into the 
country by a poor sailor, who had caught the 
infection ^ in foreign parts, and came hither to die 
and to be the cause of many deaths. Sometimes, 
no doubt, it followed in the train of the pompous 
governors when they came over from England. 
Sometimes the disease lay hidden in the cargoes of 
ships, among silks, and brocades, and other costly 
merchandise which was imported for the rich 
people to wear. And sometimes it started up lo 
seemingly of its own accord, and nobody could 
tell whence it came. The physician, being called 
to attend the sick person, would look at him, and 
say : '' It is the small-pox ! Let the patient be 
carried to the hospital." 

And now this dreadful sickness had shown it- 
self again in Boston. Cotton Mather was greatly 
afflicted for the sake of the whole province. He 
had children, too, who were exposed to the danger. 
At that very moment he heard the voice of his 20 
youngest son, for whom his heart was moved with 
apprehension. 

1 Infection : disease. 



144 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

" Alas ! I fear for that poor child," said Cotton 
Mather to himself. " What shall I do for my son 
Samuel ? " 

Again he attempted to drive away these thoughts 
by taking up the book which he had been reading. 

And now, all of a sudden, his attention became 
fixed. The book contained a printed letter that 
an Italian physician had written upon the very 
subject about which Cotton Mather was so anx- 
loiously meditating. He ran his eye eagerly over 
the pages ; and, behold ! a method w^as disclosed ^ 
to him by which the small-pox might be robbed of 
its worst terrors. Such a method w^as known in 
Greece. The physicians of Turkey, too, those 
long-bearded Eastern sages, had been acquainted 
with it for many years. The negroes of Africa, 
ignorant as they were, had likewise practised it, 
and thus had shown themselves wiser than the 
white men. 
20 " Of a truth," ejaculated Cotton Mather, clasp- 
ing his hands and looking up to heaven, "it was a 
merciful Providence that brought this book under 
1 Disclosed : explained, made plain. 



GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 145 

mine eye. I will procure a consultation of physi- 
cians, and see whether this wondrous inoculation ^ 
may not stay the progress of the destroyer." 

So he arose from Grandfather's chair and went 
out of the library. Near the door he met his son 
Samuel, who seemed downcast and out of spirits. 
The boy had heard, probably, that some of his 
playmates were taken ill with the small-pox. But, 
as his father looked cheerfully at him, Samuel 
took courage, trusting that either the wisdom of lo 
so learned a minister would find some remedy for 
the danger, or else that his prayers would secure 
protection from on high. 

Meanwhile Cotton Mather took his staff and 
three-cornered hat and walked about the streets, 
calling at the houses of all the physicians in 
Boston. They were a very wise fraternity ^ ; and 
their huge wigs, and black dresses, and solemn 

1 Inoculation : somewhat similar to our modern method of 
vaccination. 

2 Fraternity : brotherhood ; we speak of ministers making 
one fraternity, doctors another ; it usually means in this sense 
a body of men interested in, or engaged in, the same work. 



146 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

visages made their wisdom appear even profounder 
than it was. One after another he acquainted 
them with the discovery which he had hit upon. 

But the grave and sagacious ^ personages woukl 
scarcely listen to him. Tlie oldest doctor in town 
contented himself with remarking that no such 
thing as inoculation was mentioned by Galen or 
Hippocrates^; and it was impossible that modern 
physicians should be wiser than those old sages. 

10 A second held up his hands in dumb astonishment 
and horror at the madness of what Cotton Mather 
proposed to do. A third told him, in pretty plain 
terms, that he knew not what he was talking about. 
A fourth requested, in the name of the whole med- 
ical fraternity, that Cotton Mather would confine 
his attention to people's souls, and leave the 
physicians to take care of their bodies. 

In short, there was but a single doctor among 
them all who would grant the poor minister so 

20 much as a patient hearing. This was Doctor 
Zabdiel Boylston. He looked into the matter like 

1 Sagacious : wise. 

2 Galen and Hippocrates were ancient physicians of great note. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 147 

ii man of sense, and finding, beyond a doubt, that 
inoculation had rescued many from death, he 
resolved to try the experiment in his own family. 

And so he did. But when the other physicians 
heard of it they arose in great fury and began a 
war of words, written, printed, and spoken, against 
Cotton Mather and Doctor Boylston. To hear 
them talk, you would have supposed tliat these 
two harmless and benevolent men had plotted the 
ruin of the country. lo 

The people, also, took the alarm. Many, who 
thought themselves more pious than their neigh- 
bors, contended that, if Providence had ordained 
them to die of the small-pox, it was sinful to aim 
at preventing it. The strangest reports were in 
circulation. Some said that Doctor Boylston had 
contrived a method for conveying the gout, rheu- 
matism, sick-headache, asthma, and all other dis- 
eases from one person to anotlier, and diffusing 
them through the whole community. Others flatly 20 
affirmed that the evil one had got possession of 
Cotton Mather, and was at the bottom of the whole 
business. 



148 GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 

You must observe, children, that Cotton Mather's 
fellow-citizens were generally inclined to doubt 
the wisdom of any measure which he might propose 
to them. They recollected how he had led them 
astray in the old witchcraft delusion ; and now, if 
he thought and acted ever so wisely, it was diffi- 
cult for him to get the credit of it. 

The people's wrath grew so hot at his attempt to 
guard them from the small-pox that he could not 
10 walk the streets in peace. Whenever the vener- 
able form of the old minister, meagre and haggard 
with fasts and vigils, Avas seen approaching, hisses 
were heard, and shouts of derision, and scornful 
and bitter laughter. The women snatched away 
their children from his path, lest he should do them 
a mischief. Still, hoAvever, bending his head 
meekly, and perhaps stretching out his hands to 
bless those who reviled him, he pursued his way. 
But the tears came into his eyes to think how 
20 blindly the people rejected the means of safety 
that were offered them. 

Indeed, there were melancholy sights enough in 
the streets of Boston to draw forth the tears of 



GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 149 

a compassionate man. Over the door of almost 
every dwelling a red flag was fluttering in the 
air. This was the signal that the small-pox had 
entered the house and attacked some member of 
the family ; or perhaps the whole family, old and 
young, were struggling at once with the pestilence. 
Friends and relatives, when they met one another 
in the streets, would hurry onward without a grasp 
of the hand or scarcely a word of greeting, lest 
they should catch or communicate the contagion ^ ; lo 
and often a coffin was borne hastily along. 

" Alas ! alas ! " said Cotton Mather to himself, 
"what shall be done for this poor, misguided 
people ? Oh, that Providence would open their 
eyes, and enable them to discern good from evil ! " 

So furious, however, were the people, that they 
threatened vengeance against any person who 
should dare to practise inoculation, though it were 
only in his own family. This was a hard case for 
Cotton Mather, who saw no other way to rescue 20 

1 Contagion : this word is much the same as "infection"; 
''contagion" means particularly getting disease by actually 
touching the body of a diseased person. 



150 GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 

his poor child Samuel from the disease. But he 
resolved to save him, even if his house should be 
burned over his head. 

" I will not be turned aside," said he. " My 
townsmen shall see that I have faith in this thing, 
when I make the experiment on my beloved son, 
whose life is dearer to me than my own. And 
when I have saved Samuel, perad venture ^ they 
will be persuaded to save themselves." 

10 Accordingly Samuel was inoculated ; and so was 
Mr. Walter, a son-in-law of Cotton Mather. Doc- 
tor Boylston, likewise, inoculated many persons ; 
and while hundreds died Avho had caught the con- 
tagion from the garments of the sick, almost all 
were preserved who followed the wise physician's 
advice. 

But the people were not yet convinced of their 
mistake. One night a destructive little instrument, 
called a hand grenade, was thrown into Cotton 

20 Mather's window, and rolled under Grandfather's 
chair. It was supposed to be filled with gun- 
powder, the explosion of which w^ould have blown 
1 Peradventure : perhaps, by chance. 



GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 151 

the poor minister to atoms. But the best informed 
historians are of opinion that the grenade contained 
only brimstone and assafoetida, and was meant to 
phigue Cotton Mather with a very evil per- 
fume. 

This is no strange thing in human experience. 
Men who attempt to do the world more good than 
the world is able entirely to comprehend are 
almost invariably held in bad odor. But yet, if 
the wise and good man can wait' awhile, either lo 
the present generation or posterity will do him 
justice. So it proved in the case which we have 
been speaking of. In after years, when inocula- 
tion was universally practised, and thousands were 
saved from death by it, the people remembered 
old Cotton Mather, then sleeping in his grave. 
They acknowledged that the very thing for 
which they had so reviled and persecuted him 
was the best and wisest thing he ever did. 

'' Grandfather, this is not an agreeable story,'' 20 
observed Clara. 

"No, Clara," replied Grandfather. "But it is 



152 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

right tliat you should know what a dark shadow 
this disease threw over the times of our fore- 
fathers. And now, if you wish to learn more 
about Cotton Mather, you must read his biography, 
written by Mr. Peabody, of Springfield. You will 
find it very entertaining and instructive ; but per- 
haps the writer is somewhat too harsh in his judg- 
ment of this singular man. He estimates him 
fairly, indeed, and understands him well ; but he 

10 unriddles his character rather by acuteness than 
by sympathy. Now, his life should have been 
written by one who, knowing all his faults, would 
nevertheless love him." 

So Grandfather made an end of Cotton Mather, 
telling his auditors that he died in 1728, at the age 
of sixty-five, and bequeathed the chair to Elisha 
Cooke. This gentleman was a famous advocate 
of the people's rights. 

The same year William Burnet, a son of the 

20 celebrated Bishop Burnet, arrived in Boston with 
the commission of governor. He was the first that 
had been appointed since the departure of Colonel 
Shute. Governor Burnet took up his residence 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 153 

with Mr. Cooke while the Province House was un- 
dergoing repairs. During this period he was always 
complimented with a seat in Grandfather's chair ; 
and so comfortable did he find it, that, on remov- 
ing to the Province House, he could not bear to 
leave it behind him. Mr. Cooke, therefore, re- 
quested his acceptance of it. 

" I should think," said Laurence, " that the 
people would have petitioned the king always to 
appoint a native-born New-Englander to govern lo 
them." 

" Undoubtedly it was a grievance," answered 
Grandfather, " to see men placed in this station 
who perhaps had neither talents nor virtues to 
fit them for it, and who certainly could have no 
natural affection for the country. The king gen- 
erally bestowed the governorships of the Amer- 
ican colonies upon needy noblemen, or hangers-on 
at court, or disbanded officers. ^ The people knew 
that such persons would be very likely to make 20 



1 Disbanded officers : officers who have been discharged from 
further service. 



154 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

the good of the country subservient ^ to the 
wishes of the king. The Legishiture, therefore, 
endeavored to keep as much power as possible in 
their own hands, by refusing to settle a fixed 
salary upon the governors. It was thought better 
to pay them according to their deserts." 

" Did Governor Burnet work well for his 
money ? " asked Charley. 

Grandfather could not help smiling at the sim- 
loplicity of Charley's question. Nevertheless it put 
the matter in a very plain point of view. 

He then described the character of Governor 
Burnet, representing him as a good scholar, pos- 
sessed of much ability, and likewise of unspotted 
integrity. His story affords a striking example 
how unfortunate it is for a man, who is placed as 
ruler over a country, to be compelled to aim at any- 
thing but tlie good of the people. Governor 
Burnet was so chained down by his instructions 
20 from the king that he could not act as he might 

1 Subservient ; secondary. This sentence means that the 
officers would look first to the interests of the king and second 
to the interests of the country. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 155 

otherwise have wished. Consequently, his whole 
term of office was wasted in quarrels with the 
Legislature. 

'' I am afraid, children," said Grandfather, " that 
Governor Burnet found but little rest or comfort 
in our old chair. Here he used to sit, dressed in a 
coat which was made of rough, shaggy cloth out- 
side, but of smooth velvet within. It was said 
that his own character resembled that coat ; for 
his outward manner was rough, but his inward lo 
disposition soft and kind. It is a \)\tj that such 
a man could not have been kept free from trouble. 
But so harassing were his disputes with the repre- 
sentatives of the people that he fell into a fever, 
of which he died in 1729. The Legislature had 
refused him a salary Avhile alive ; but they appro- 
priated money enough to give him a splendid and 
pompous funeral." 

And now Grandfather perceived that little 
Alice had fallen fast asleep, with her head upon 20 
his foot-stool. Indeed, as Clara observed, she 
had been sleeping from the time of Sir Hovenden 
Walker's expedition against Quebec until the 



156 GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 

death of Governor Burnet, — a period of about 
eighteen years. And yet, after so long a nap, 
sweet little Alice was a golden-haired child of 
scarcely five years old. 

" It puts me in mind," said Laurence, " of the 
story of the enchanted princess, who slept many a 
hundred years, and awoke as young and beautiful 
as ever." 



CHAPTER XVII 

A FEW evenings afterwards, cousin Clara hap- 
pened to inquire of Grandfather whether the old 
chair had never been present at a ball. At the 
same time little Alice brought forward a doll, with 
whom she had been holding a long conversation. 

" See, Grandfather ! " cried she. " Did such a 
pretty lady as this ever sit in your great chair ? " 

These questions led Grandfather to talk about 
the fashions and manners which now began to be 
introduced from England into the provinces. The lo 
simplicity of tlie good old Puritan times was fast 
disappearing. This was partly owing to the in- 
creasing number and wealth of the inhabitants, 
and to the additions which they continually re- 
ceived by the arrival and settlement of people 
from beyond the sea. 

Another cause of a pompous and artificial mode 

157 



158 GRANDFA THER ' S CHAIR 

of life, among those who could afford it, was that 
the example was set by the royal governors. Under 
the old charter, the governors were the represen- 
tatives of the people, and therefore their way of 
living had probably been marked by a popular 
simplicity. But now, as they represented the 
person of the king, they thought it necessary to 
preserve the dignity of their station by the prac- 
tice of high and gorgeous ceremonials. ^ And, be- 

10 sides, the profitable offices under the government 
were filled by men who had lived in London, and 
had there contracted fashionable and luxurious 
habits of living which they would not now lay 
aside. The wealthy people of the province imi- 
tated them ; and thus began a general change in 
social life. 

" So, my dear Clara," said Grandfather, " after 
our chair had entered the Province House, it must 
often have been present at balls and festivals ; 

20 though I cannot give you a description of any 
particular one. But I doubt not that they were 

1 Ceremonials : making great display, observing forms and* 
ceremonies, the opposite of simple living. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 159 

very magnificent ; and slaves in gorgeous liveries ^ 
waited on the guests, and offered them wine in 
goblets of massive silver." 

'' Were there slaves in those days I " exclaimed 
Clara. 

" Yes, black slaves and white," replied Grand- 
father. " Our ancestors not only brought negroes 
from Africa, but Indians from South America, and 
white people from Ireland. These last were sold, 
not for life, but for a certain number of years, in lo 
order to pay the expenses of their voyage across 
the Atlantic. Nothing was more common than to 
see a lot of likely Irish girls advertised for sale in 
the newspapers. As for the little negro babies, 
they were offered to be given away like young 
kittens." 

" Perhaps Alice would have liked one to play 
with, instead of her doll," said Charley, laughing. 

But little Alice clasped the Avaxen doll closer to 
her bosom. 20 

" Now, as for this pretty doll, my little Alice," 

1 Liveries : uniforms, especially such as are used to mark a 
serving class of people. 



160 GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 

said Grandfather, " I wish you could have seen 
what splendid dresses the ladies wore in those 
times. They had silks, and satins, and damasks, 
and brocades, and high head-dresses, and all sorts 
of fine things. And they used to wear hooped 
petticoats of such enormous size that it was quite 
a journey to walk round them." 

" And how did the gentlemen dress ? " asked 
Charley. 
10 " With full as much magnificence as the ladies," 
answered Grandfather. " For their holiday suits 
they had coats of figured velvet, crimson, green, 
blue, and all other gay colors, embroidered with 
gold or silver lace. Their waistcoats, which were 
five times as large as modern ones, were very 
splendid. Sometimes the whole waistcoat, which 
came down almost to the knees, was made of gold 
brocade." 

" Why, the wearer must have shone like a golden 
20 image ! " said Clara. 

" And then," continued Grandfather, "they wore 
various sorts of periwigs, such as the tie, the 
Spencer, the brigadier, the major, the Albemarle, 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 161 

the Ramillies, the feather-top, and the full bottom. 
Their three-cornered hats were laced with gold or 
silver. They had shining buckles at the knees of 
their small-clothes, and buckles likewise in their 
shoes. They wore swords with beautiful hilts, 
either of silver, or sometimes of polished steel, 
inlaid with gold." 

" Oh, I should like to wear a sword ! '' cried 
Charley. 

" And an embroidered crimson velvet coat," lo 
said Clara, laughing, " and a gold brocade waist- 
coat down to your knees ! " 

" And knee-buckles and shoe-buckles," said 
Laurence, laughing also. 

"' And a periwig," added little Alice, soberly, 
not knomng what was the article of dress which 
she recommended to our friend Charley. 

Grandfather smiled at the idea of Charley's 
sturdy little figure in such a grotesque caparison. ^ 
He then went on with the history of the chair, and 20 

1 Caparison : style of dress, especially something that is 
intended to make great display ; usually used of horses for 
riding. 

M 



162 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

told the children that, in 1730, King George II 
appointed Jonathan Belcher to be governor of 
Massachusetts in place of the deceased Governor 
Burnet. Mr. Belcher was a native of the 
province, but had spent much of his life in 
Europe. 

The new governor found Grandfather's chair in 
the Province House. He was struck with its 
noble and stately aspect, but was of opinion that 

10 age and hard services had made it scarcely so fit 
for courtly company as when it stood in the Earl 
of Lincoln's hall. Wherefore, as Governor Belcher 
was fond of splendor, he employed a skilful artist 
to beautify the chair. This was done by polishing 
and varnishing it, and by gilding the carved work 
of the elbows, and likewise the oaken flowers of 
the back. The lion's head now shone like a veri- 
table lump of gold. Finally Governor Belcher 
gave the chair a cushion of blue damask, with a 

20 rich golden fringe. 

" Our good old chair being thus glorified," pro- 
ceeded Grandfather, " it glittered with a great 
deal more splendor than it had exhibited just a 



GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 163 

century before, when the Lady Arbella brought it 
over from England. Most people mistook it for a 
chair of the latest London fashion. And this may 
serve for an example, that there is almost always 
an old and time-worn substance under all the glit- 
tering show of new invention." 

" Grandfather, I cannot see any of the gilding," 
remarked Charley, who had been examining the 
chair very minutely. 

" You will not wonder that it has been rubbed lo 
off," replied Grandfather, " when you hear all the 
adventures that have since befallen the chair. 
Gilded it was ; and the handsomest room in the 
Province House was adorned by it." 

There was not much to interest the children in 
what happened during the years that Governor 
Belcher remained in the chair. At first, like Col- 
onel Shute and Governor Burnet, he was engaged 
in disputing Avith the Legislature about his salary. 
But, as he found it impossible to get a fixed sum, 20 
he finally obtained the king's leave to accept what- 
ever the Legislature chose to give him. And thus 
the people triumphed, after this long contest for 



1G4 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

the privilege of expending their own money as 
they saw fit. 

The remainder of Governor Belcher's term of 
office was principally taken up in endeavoring to 
settle the currency. Honest John Hull's pine- 
tree shillings had long ago been worn out, or lost, 
or melted down again ; and their place was sup- 
plied by bills of paper or parchment, which were 
nominally valued at three-pence and upwards. 

10 The value of these bills kept continually sinking, 
because the real hard money could not be obtained 
for them. They were a great deal worse than the 
old Indian currency of clam-shells. These disor- 
ders of the circulating medium were a source of 
endless plague and perplexity to the rulers and 
legislators, not only in Governor Belcher's days, 
but for many years before and afterwards. 

Finally the people suspected that Governor 
Belcher was secretly endeavoring to establish the 

20 Episcopal mode of worship in the provinces. 
There was enough of the old Puritan spirit remain- 
ing to cause most of the true sons of New England 
to look with horror upon such an attempt. Great 



GUANDFATHER' S CHAIR 165 

exertions were made to induce the king to remove 
the governor. Accordingly, in 1740, he was com- 
pelled to resign his office, and Grandfather's chair 
into the bargain, to Mr. Shirley. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

"William Shirley," said Grandfather, "had 
come from Enghind a few years before, and begun 
to practise law in Boston. You will think, per- 
haps, that, as he had been a lawyer, the new gov- 
ernor used to sit in our great chair reading heavy 
law-books from morning till night. On the con- 
trary, he was as stirring and active a governor as 
Massachusetts ever had. Even Sir William Phipps 
hardly equalled him. The first year or two of his 
10 administration ^ was spent in trying to regulate 
tlie currency. But in 1744, after a peace of more 
than thirty years, war broke out between France 
and England." 

" And I suppose," said Charley, " the governor 
went to take Canada." 

" Not exactly, Charley," said Grandfather ; 

1 Administration : the period during which an officer, as a 
governor, holds office. 

166 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 167 

" though you have made a pretty shrewd conjec- 
ture. He phmned, in 1745, an expedition against 
Louisburg. This was a fortified city, on the 
ishind of Cape Breton, near Nova Scotia. Its 
walls were of immense height and strength, and 
w^ere defended by hundreds of heavy cannon. 
It was the strongest fortress which the French 
possessed in America ; and if the king of France 
had guessed Governor Shirley's intentions, he 
would have sent all the ships he could muster to lo 
protect it." 

As the siege of Louisburg was one of the most 
remarkable events that ever the inhabitants of 
New England were engaged in, Grandfather en- 
deavored to give his auditors a lively idea of the 
spirit with which they set about it. We shall call 
his description 

THE PROVINCIAL MUSTER 

The expedition against Louisburg first began 
to be thought of in the month of January. From 
that time the governor's chair was continually 20 



168 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

surrounded by councillors, representatives, clergy- 
men, captains, pilots, and all manner of people, 
with whom he consulted about this wonderful 
project. 

First of all, it was necessary to provide men 
and arms. The Legislature immediately sent out 
a huge quantity of paper-money, with which, as 
if by magic spell, the governor hoped to get pos- 
session of all the old cannon, powder and balls, 

10 rusty swords and muskets, and everything else 
that would be serviceable in killing Frenchmen. 
Drams were beaten in all the villages of Massa- 
chusetts to enlist soldiers for the service. Mes- 
sages were sent to the other governors of New 
England, and to New York and Pennsylvania, 
entreating them to unite in this crusade against 
the French. All these provinces agreed to give 
what assistance they could. 

But there was one very important thing to be 

20 decided. Who shall be the general of this great 
army ? Peace had continued such an unusual 
length of time, that there was now less military 
experience among the colonists than at any former 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 169 

period. The old Puritans had always kept their 
weapons bright, and were never destitute of war- 
like captains who were skilful in assault or de- 
fence. But the swords of their descendants had 
grown rusty by disuse. There was nobody in 
New England that knew anything about sieges 
or any other regular fighting. The only persons 
at all acquainted with warlike business were a few 
elderly men, who had hunted Indians through the 
underbrush of the forest in old Governor Dum- lo 
mer's war. 

In this dilemma ^ Governor Shirley fixed upon 
a wealthy merchant, named William Pepperell, 
who was pretty well known and liked among the 
people. As to military skill, he had no more of 
it than his neighbors. But, as the governor 
urged him very pressingly, Mr. Pepperell con- 
sented to shut up his ledger, gird on a sword, 
and assume the title of general. 

Meantime, what a hubbub was raised by this 20 

1 Dilemma : a difficult position ; a dilemma is usually a case 
where you may choose one of two ways of doing a thing, either 
one of which will be bad. 



170 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

scheme ! Riib-a-dub-dub ! rub-a-dab-dub ! The 
rattle of drums, beaten out of all manner of time, 
was heard above every other sound. 

Nothing now was so valuable as arms, of what- 
ever-style and fashion they might be. The bellows 
blew, and the hammer clanged continually upon 
the anvil, while the blacksmiths were repairing 
the broken weapons of other wars. Doubtless 
some of the soldiers lugged out those enormous, 
10 heavy muskets which used to be fired, with rests,^ 
in the time of the early Puritans. Great horse- 
pistols too, were found, which would go off with 
a bang like a cannon. Old cannon, with touch- 
holes ^ almost as big as their muzzles, were looked 
upon as inestimable treasures. Pikes which, per- 
haps, had been handled by Miles Standish's sol- 
diers, now made their appearance again. Many 
a young man ransacked the garret and brought 
forth his great-grandfather's sword, corroded with 

1 Rests : the guns used at this time were so heavy that they 
had to be held up by supports under the barrel. 

2 Touch-holes : holes near the large end of a cannon, used for 
priming and firing it. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 171 

rust and stained with the blood of King Philip's 
War. 

Never had there been such an arming as this, 
when a people, so long peaceful, rose to the war 
with the best weapons that they could lay- their 
hands upon. And still the drums were heard — 
rub-a-dub-dub ! rub-a-dub-dub ! — in all the towns 
and villages ; and louder and more numerous grew 
the trampling footsteps of the recruits that marched 
behind. '° 

And now the army began to gather into Bos- 
ton. Tall, lanky, awkward fellows came in squads, 
and companies, and regiments, swaggering along, 
dressed in their brown homespun clothes and blue 
yarn stockings. They stooped as if they still had 
hold of the plough-handles, and marched without 
any time or tune. Hither they came, from the 
corn-fields, from the clearing in the forest, from 
the blacksmith's forge, from the carpenter's work- 
shop, and from the shoemaker's seat. They were 20 
an army of rough faces and sturdy frames. A 
trained officer of Europe would have laughed at 
them till his sides had ached. But there was a 



172 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

spirit in their bosoms which is more essential to 
soldiership than to wear red coats and march in 
stately ranks to the sound of regular music. 

Still was heard the beat of the drum, — rub-a- 
dub-dub ! And now a host of three or four 
thousand men had found their way to Boston. 
Little quiet was there then ! Forth scampered 
the schoolboys, shouting behind the drums. The 
whole town, the whole land, was on fire with 

10 war. 

After the arrival of the troops, they were prob- 
ably reviewed upon the common. We may imag- 
ine Governor Shirley and General Pepperell riding 
slowly along the line, while the drummers beat 
strange old tunes like psalm-tunes, and all the 
officers and soldiers put on their most warlike 
looks. It would have been a terrible sight for 
the Frenchmen, could they but have witnessed it ! 
At length on the 24th of March, 1745, the army 

2o gave a parting shout, and set sail from Boston in 
ten or twelve vessels which had been hired by the 
governor. A few days afterwards an English 
fleet, commanded by Commodore Peter Warren, 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 173 

sailed also for Louisburg to assist the provincial ^ 
army. So noAV, after all this bustle of prepara- 
tion, the town and province were left in stillness 
and repose. 

But stillness and repose, at such a time of anx- 
ious expectation, are hard to bear. The hearts of 
the old people and women sunk within them when 
they reflected what perils they had sent their sons, 
and husbands, and brothers, to encounter. The 
boys loitered heavily to school, missing the rub-a- lo 
dub-dub and the trampling march, in the rear of 
which they had so lately run and shouted. All 
the ministers prayed earnestly in their pulpits 
for a blessing on the army of New England. In 
every family, when the good man lifted up his 
heart in domestic ^ worship, the burden of his peti- 
tion-^ was for the safety of those dear ones who 
were fighting under the walls of Louisburg. 

Governor Shirley all this time was probably in an 

1 Provincial : belonging to tlie provinces, as the colonies were 
frequently called. 

2 Domestic : at home, belonging to the family. 
2 Petition : prayer. 



174 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

ecstasy^ of impatience. He could not sit still a 
moment. He found no quiet, not even in Grand- 
father's chair ; but hurried to and fro, and up and 
down the staircase of the Province House. Now 
he mounted to the cupola and looked seaward, 
straining his eyes to discover if there were a sail 
upon the horizon. Now he hastened down the 
stairs, and stood beneath the portal, on the red 
free-stone ^ steps, to receive some mud-bespattered 
10 courier,^ from whom he hoped to hear tidings 
of the army. A few weeks after the departure 
of the troops, Commodore Warren sent a small 
vessel to Boston with two French prisoners. One 
of them was Monsieur Bouladrie, who had been 
commander of a battery outside of the walls of 
Louisburg. The other was the Marquis de la 
Maison Forte, captain of a French frigate which 
had been taken by Commodore Warren's fleet. 
These prisoners assured Governor Shirley that 

1 Ecstasy : excitement. 

2 Free-stone : a kind of sandstone rock, much used in build- 
ing. 

3 Courier : a messenger, usually one riding on horseback. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 175 

the fortifications of Louisburg were far too strong 
ever to.be stormed by the provincial army. 

Day after day and week after week went on. 
The people grew almost heart-sick with anxiety ; 
for the flower of the country was at peril in this 
adventurous expedition. It was now daybreak 
on the morning of the 3d of July. 

But hark ! what sound is this ? The hurried 
clang of a bell ! There is the Old North pealing 
suddenly out ! — there the Old South strikes in ! lo 
— now the peal comes from the church in Brattle 
Street ! — the bells of nine or ten steeples are all 
flinging their iron voices at once upon the morning 
breeze ! Is it joy, or akirm ? There goes the roar 
of a cannon too ! A royal salute is thundered 
forth. And now we hear the loud exulting shout 
of a multitude assembled in the street. Huzza ! 
huzza ! Louisburg has surrendered ! Huzza ! 

" Oh Grandfather, how glad I should have been 
to live in those times ! " cried Charley. '' And 20 
what reward did tlie king give to General Pepperell 
and Governor Shirley ? " 



176 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

" He made Pepperell a baronet ; so that he was 
now to be called Sir William Pepperell," replied 
Grandfather. "He likewise appointed both Pep- 
perell and Shirley to be colonels in the royal army. 
These rewards, and higher ones, were well de- 
served ; for this was the greatest triumph that 
the English met with in the whole course of that 
war. General Pepperell became a man of great 
fame. I have seen a full-length portrait of him, 

lo representing him in a splendid scarlet uniform, 
standing before the walls of Louisburg, while 
several bombs are falling through the air." 

" But did the country gain any real good by 
the conquest of Louisburg ? " asked Laurence. 
" Or was all the benefit reaped by Pepperell 
and Shirley ? " 

" The English Parliament," replied Grandfather, 
" agreed to pay tlie colonists for all the expenses 
of the siege. Accordingly, in 1749, two hundred 

20 and fifteen chests of Spanish dollars and one hun- 
dred casks of copper coin were brought from Eng- 
land to Boston. The whole amount was about a 
million of dollars. Twenty-seven carts and trucks 



GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 111 

carried this money from the vvliarf to the provin- 
cial treasury. Was not this a pretty liberal 
reward ? " 

" The mothers of the young men who were 
killed at the siege of Louisburg would not have 
thought it so," said Laurence. 

" No, Laurence," rejoined Grandfather ; " and 
every warlike achievement involves an amount of 
physical and moral evil, for which all the gold in 
the Spanish mines would not be the slightest rec- lo 
ompense. But we are to consider that this siege 
was one of the occasions on which the colonists 
tested their ability for war, and thus were pre- 
pared for the great contest of the Revolution. 
In that point of view, the valor of our forefathers 
was its own reward." 

Grandfather went on to say that the success of 
the expedition against Louisburg induced Shirley 
and Pepperell to form a scheme for conquering 
Canada. This plan, however, was not carried 20 
into execution. 

In the year 1746 great terror was excited by 
the arrival of a formidable French fleet upon the 



178 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

coast. It was commanded by the Duke d'Anville, 
and consisted of forty ships of war, besides vessels 
with soldiers on board. With this force the French 
intended to retake Louisburg, and afterwards to 
ravage the whole of New England. Many people 
were ready to give up the country for lost. 

But the hostile fleet met with so manv disasters 
and losses by storm and shipwreck, that the 
Duke d'Anville is said to have poisoned himself in 
10 despair. The officer next in command threw him- 
self upon his sword and perished. Thus deprived 
of their commanders, the remainder of the ships 
returned to France. This was as great a deliver- 
ance for New England as that which Old England 
had experienced in the days of Queen Elizabeth, 
when the Spanish Armada ^ was wrecked upon her 
coast. 

" In 1747," proceeded Grandfather, " Governor 
Shirley was driven from the Province House, not 

1 The Spanish Armada was a large fleet of vessels fitted out 
by the King of Spain in 1588 to overrun and conquer England. 
It was destroyed by a storm before it was able to land on the 
Ens;lish shore. 



grandfather's chair 179 

by a hostile fleet and army, but by a mob of the 
Boston people. They were so incensed at the 
conduct of the British Commodore Knovvles, who 
had impressed ^ some of their fellow-citizens, that 
several thousands of them surrounded the council 
chamber and threw stones and brickbats into the 
windows. The governor attempted to pacify ^ 
them ; but not succeeding, he thought it necessary 
to leave the town and take refuge within the walls 
of Castle William. Quiet was not restored until lo 
Commodore Knowles had sent back the impressed 
men. This affair was a flash of spirit that might 
have warned the English not to venture upon any 
oppressive measures against their colonial breth- 
ren." 

Peace being declared between France and Eng- 
land in 1748, the governor had now an opportunity 

1 Impressed : it was the custom for the commander of a ship 
to seize and force into the service of the ship any persons whom 
he might be able to lay his hands on. This was called " impress- 
ing." This is no longer permitted in civilized countries, though 
at one time it was one great cause of a war between the United 
States and Great Britain, " The War of 1812." 

2 Pacify : make j)eace between them, to quiet them. 



180 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

to sit at his ease in Grandfather's chair. Such re- 
pose, however, appears not to have suited his dis- 
position ; for in the following year he went to 
England, and thence was despatched to Fra,nce on 
public business. Meanwhile, as Shirley had not 
resigned his office, Lieutenant-Governor Phipps 
acted as chief magistrate in his stead. 



CHAPTER XIX 

In the early twilight of Thanksgiving Eve came 
Laurence, and Clara, and Charley, and little Alice 
hand in hand, and stood in a semicircle round 
Grandfather's chair. They had been joyous 
throughout that day of festivity, mingling to- 
gether in all kinds of play, so that the house had 
echoed with their airy mirth. 

Grandfather, too, had been happy though not 
mirthful. He felt that this was to be set down 
as one of the good Thanksgivings of his life. In lo 
truth, all his former Thanksgivings had borne 
their part in the present one ; for his years of in- 
fancy, and youth, and manhood, with their bless- 
ings and their griefs, had flitted before him while 
he sat silently in the great diair. Vanished scenes 
had been pictured in the air. The forms of de- 
parted friends had visited him. Voices to be 
heard no more on earth had sent an echo from the 

181 



182 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

infinite and the eternal. These shadows, if such 
they were, seemed almost as real to him as what 
was actually present, — as the merry shouts and 
laughter of the children, — as their figures, danc- 
ing like sunshine before his eyes. 

He felt that the past was not taken from him. 
The happiness of former days was a possession 
forever. And there was something in the mingled 
sorrow of his lifetime that became akin to happi- 

10 ness, after being long treasured in the depths of 
his heart. There it underwent a change, and 
grew more precious tlian pure gold. 

And now came the children, somewhat aweary 
with their wild play, and sought the quiet enjoy- 
ment of Grandfather's talk. The good old gentle- 
man rubbed his eyes and smiled round upon them 
all. He was glad, as most aged people are, to 
find that he was yet of consequence, and could 
give pleasure to the world. After being so merry 

20 all day long, did these children desire to hear his 
sober talk ? Oh, then, old Grandfather had yet a 
place to fill among living men, — or at least among 
boys and girls ! 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 183 

" Begin quick, Grandfather," cried little Alice ; 
" for pussy wants to hear you." 

And truly our yellow friend, the cat, lay upon 
the hearth-rug, basking in the warmth of the fire, 
pricking up her ears, and turning her head from 
the children to Grandfather, and from Grand- 
father to the children, as if she felt herself very 
sympathetic with them all. A loud purr, like the 
singing of a tea-kettle or the hum of a spinning- 
wheel, testified that she was as comfortable and lo 
happy as a cat could be. For puss had feasted ; 
and therefore, like Grandfather and the children, 
had kept a good Thanksgiving. 

'VDoes pussy want to hear me?" said Grand- 
father, smiling. " Well, we must please pussy, if 
we can." 

And so he took up the history of the chair from 
the epoch of the peace of 1748. By one of the 
provisions of the treaty, Louisburg, which the 
'New-Englanders had been at so much pains to 20 
take, was restored to the King of France. 

The French were afraid that, unless their colo- 
nies should be better defended than heretofore, an- 



184 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

other war might deprive them of the whole. 
Ahnost as soon as peace was declared, therefore, 
they began to build strong fortifications in the 
interior of North America. It was strange to 
behold these Avarlike castles on the banks of soli- 
tary lakes and far in the midst of woods. The 
Indian, paddling his birch canoe on Lake Cham- 
plain, looked up at the high ramparts of Ticonder- 
oga, stone piled on stone, bristling with cannon, 

10 and the white flag of France floating above. 
There were similar fortifications on Lake Ontario, 
and near the great Falls of Niagara, and at the 
sources of the Ohio River. And all around these 
forts and castles lay the eternal forest, and the 
roll of the drum died away in those deep solitudes. 
The truth was, that the French intended to 
build forts all the way from Canada to Louisiana. 
They would then have had a wall of military 
strength at the back of the English settlements so 

20 as completely to hem them in. The King of 
England considered the building of these forts as 
a sufficient cause of war, which was accordingly 
commenced in 1754. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 185 

*' Governor Shirley," siiid Grandfather, " had 
returned to Boston in 1753. While in Paris he 
had married a second wife, a young French girl, 
and now brought her to the Province House. But 
when war was breaking out it was impossible for 
such a bustling man to slay quietly at home, sitting 
in our old chair, Avith his wife and children round 
about him. He therefore obtained a command in 
the English forces." 

" And what did Sir William Pepperell do ? " la 
asked Charley. 

" He stayed at home," said Grandfather, " and 
was general of the militia. The veteran ^ regi- 
ments of the English army which were now sent 
across the Atlantic would have scorned to fight 
under the orders of an old American merchant. 
And now began what aged people call the old 
French War. It would be going too far astray 
from the history of our chair to tell you one-half 

1 The militia were the troops raised in the colonies, from 
among the people living there, while the veteran troops were 
those belonging to the regular British army and who had come 
over from England. 



186 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

of the battles that were fought. I cannot even 
allow myself to describe the bloody defeat of 
General Braddock, near the sources of the Ohio 
River, in 1755. But I must not omit to mention 
that, when the English general was mortally 
wounded and his army routed, the remains of it 
were preserved by the skill and valor of George 
Washington." 

At the mention of this illustrious name the 

10 children started as if a sudden sunlight had 
gleamed upon the history of their country, now that 
tlie great deliverer had arisen above the horizon. 
Among all the events of the old French War, 
Grandfather thought that there was none more 
interesting than the removal of the inhabitants of 
Acadia. From the first settlement of this ancient 
province of the French, in 1604, until the present 
time, its people could scarcely ever know what 
kingdom held dominion over them. They were 

2o a peaceful race, taking no delight in warfare, 
and caring nothing for military renown. • And 
yet, in every war, their region was infested ^ with 

1 Infested : to be full of, used usually in a bad sense, as of 
robbers, beggars, etc. 



GRANDFATHER' S CHAIR 187 

iron-liearted soldiers, both French and English, 
who fought one another for the privilege of ill 
treating these poor, harmless Acadians. Some- 
times the treaty of peace made them subjects of 
one king, sometimes of another. 

At the peace of 1748 Acadia had been ceded to 
England. But the French still claimed a large 
portion of it, and built forts for its defence. In 
1755 these forts were taken, and the whole of 
Acadia was conquered by three thousand men 
from Massachusetts, nnder the command of Gen- 
eral Winslow. The inhabitants were accused of 
supplying the French with provisions, and of 
doing other things that violated their neutrality. ^ 

'' These accusations were probably true," ob- 
served Grandfather ; '' for the Acadians were 
descended from the French, and had the same 



1 Neutrality : when two nations are at war, a third nation 
may agree not to assist eitlier of tliem. It is then said to be 
" neutral " ; or to be in a state of neutrality. If while the war is 
going on it does furnish help to one of the nations, it violates 
its neutrality. This was the charge made by the English against 
the Acadians that they helped the French. 



188 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

friendly feelings towards them that the people of 
Massachusetts had for the English. But their 
punishment was severe. The English determined 
to tear these poor people from their native homes 
and scatter them abroad." 

The Acadians were about seven thousand in 
number. A considerable part of them were made 
prisoners, and transported to the English colonies. 
All their dwellings and churches were burned, 
10 their cattle were killed, and the whole country 
was laid waste, so that none of them might find 
shelter or food in their old homes after the depar- 
ture of the English. One thousand of the pris- 
oners were sent to Massachusetts; and Grandfather 
allowed his fancy to follow them thither, and tried 
to give his auditors an idea of their situation. 

We shall call this passage the story of 

THE ACADIAN EXILES 

A sad day it was for the poor Acadians when 

the armed soldiers drove them, at the point of the 

20 bayonet, down to the sea-shore. Very sad were 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 189 

the}^ likewise, while tossing upon the ocean in the 
crowded transport vessels. But methinks it must 
have been sadder still when they were landed on 
the Long Wharf in Boston, and left to themselves 
on a foreign strand. 

Then, probably, they huddled together and 
looked into one another's faces for the comfort 
which was not there. Hitherto they had been 
confined on board of separate vessels, so that they 
could not tell whether their relatives and friends lo 
were prisoners along with them. But now, at 
least, they could tell that many had been left 
behind or transported to other regions^ 

Now a desolate wife might be heard calling for 
her husband. He, alas ! had gone, she knew not 
whither ; or perhaps had fled into the woods of 
Acadia, and had now returned to weep over the 
ashes of their dwelling. 

An aged widow was crying out in a querulous, 
lamentable tone for her son, whose affectionate 20 
toil had supported her for many a year. He was 
not in the crowd of exiles ; and what could this 
aged widow do but sink down and die ? Young 



190 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

men and maidens, whose hearts had been torn 
asunder by separation, had hoped, during the voy- 
age, to meet their beloved ones at its close. Now 
they began to feel that they were separated for- 
ever. And perhaps a lonesome little girl, a golden- 
haired child of five years old, the very picture of 
our little Alice, was weeping and wailing for her 
mother, and found not a soul to give her a kind 
word. 

10 Oh, how many broken bonds of affection were 
here ! Country lost, — friends lost, — their rural 
wealth of cottage, field, and herds all lost together. 
Every tie between these poor exiles and the world 
seemed to be cut off at once. They must have 
regretted that they had not died before their exile ; 
for even the English would not have been so piti- 
less as to deny them graves in their native soil. 
The dead were happy ; for they were not exiles ! 
While they thus stood upon the wharf, the 

20 curiosity and inquisitiveness of the New England 
people would naturally lead them into the midst 
of the poor Acadians. Prying busybodies thrust 
their heads into the circle wherever two or three 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 191 

of the exiles were conversing together. How puz- 
zled did they look at the outlandish sound of the 
French tongue ! There were seen the New Eng- 
land women, too. They had just come out of their 
warm, safe homes, where everything was regular 
and comfortable, and where their husbands and 
children would be with them at nightfall. Surely 
they could pity the wretched wives and mothers 
of Acadia ! Or did the sign of the cross which 
the Acadians continually made upon their breasts, lo 
and which was abhorred by the descendants of the 
Puritans, — did that sign exclude all pity ? 

Among the spectators, too, was the noisy brood 
of Boston schoolboys, who came running, with 
laugliter and shouts, to gaze at this crowd of 
oddly dressed foreigners. At first they danced 
and capered around them, full of merriment and 
mischief. But the despair of the Acadians soon 
had its affect upon these thoughtless lads, and 
melted them into tearful sympathy. 20 

At a little distance from the throng might be 
seen the wealthy and pompous merchants whose 
warehouses stood on Long Wharf. It was diffi- 



192 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

cult to touch these rich men's hearts ; for they 
had all the comforts of the world at their com- 
mand ; and when they walked abroad their feel- 
ings were seldom moved, except by the roughness 
of the pavement irritating their gouty ^ toes. Lean- 
ing upon their gold-headed canes, they watched 
the scene with an aspect of composure. But let 
us hope they distributed some of their superfluous 
coin among these hapless exiles to purchase food 
10 and a night's lodging. 

After standing a long time at the end of the 
wharf, gazing seaward, as if to catch a glimpse of 
their lost Acadia, the strangers began to stray into 
the town. 

They went, we will suppose, in parties and 
groups, here a hundred, there a score, there ten, 
there three or four, who possessed some bond of 
unity among themselves. Here and there was 
one, who, utterly desolate, stole away by himself, 
20 seeking no companionship. 

Whither did they go ? I imagine them wander- 

1 Gouty : the gout is a very painful disease that affects the 
joints of the feet and toes. It is something like rheumatism. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 193 

ing about the streets, telling the townspeople, in 
outlandish, unintelligible words, that no earthly 
affliction ever equalled what had befallen them. 
Man's brotherhood with man was sufficient to 
make the New-Englanders understand this lan- 
guage. The strangers wanted food. Some of them 
sought hospitality at the doors of the stately man- 
sions which then stood in the vicinity of Hanover 
Street and tlie North Square. Others were appli- 
cants at the humble wooden tenements, where lo 
dwelt the petty shopkeepers and mechanics. Pray 
Heaven that no family in Boston turned one of 
these poor exiles from their door ! It would be a 
reproach upon New England, — a crime worthy of 
lieavy retribution, — if the aged women and chil- 
dren, or even the strong men, were allowed to feel 
the pinch of hunger. 

Perhaps some of the Acadians, in their aimless 
wanderings through the town, found themselves 
near a large brick edifice, which was fenced in 20 
from the street by an iron railing, wrought with 
fantastic figures. They saw a flight of red free- 
stone steps ascending to a portal, above which 



194 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

was a balcony and balustrade. Misery and deso- 
lation give men the right of free passage every- 
where. Let us suppose, then, that they mounted 
the flight of steps and passed into the Province 
House. Making their way into one of the apart- 
ments, they beheld a richly clad gentleman, seated 
in a stately chair, with gilding upon the carved 
work of its back, and a gilded lion's head at the 
summit. This was Governor Shirley, meditating 

10 upon matters of war and state, in Grandfather's 
chair. 

If such an incident did happen, Shirley, reflect- 
ing what a ruin of peaceful and humble hopes had 
been wrought by the cold policy of the statesman 
and the iron hand of the warrior, might have 
drawn a deep moral from it. It should have 
taught him that the poor man's hearth is sacred, 
and that armies and nations have no right to 
violate it. It should have made him feel that 

20 England's triumph and increased dominion could 
not compensate ^ to mankind nor atone ^ to Heaven 

1 Compensate : to make suitable return for, to repay. 

2 Atone : to give satisfaction to. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 195 

for the ashes of a single Acadian cottage. But 
it is not thus that statesmen and warriors mor- 
alize. 

'' Grandfather,'' cried Laurence, with emotion 
trembling in his voice, " did iron-hearted War it- 
self ever do so hard and cruel a thing as this 
before ? " 

" You have read in history, Laurence, of whole 
regions wantonly ^ laid waste," said Grandfather. 
" In the removal of the Acadians, the troops were lo 
guilty of no cruelty or outrage, except what was 
inseparable from the measure." 

Little Alice, whose eyes had all along been 
brimming full of tears, now burst forth a-sobbing ; 
for Grandfather had touched her sympathies more 
than he intended. 

" To think of a whole people homeless in the 
world ! " said Clara, with moistened eyes. "There 
never was anything so sad ! " 

" It was their own fault ! " cried Charley, ener- 20 
getically. "Why did not they fight for the 
country where they were born ? Then, if the 
1 Wantonly : without any excuse or reason, wickedly. 



196 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

worst had happened to them, they could only 
have been killed and buried there. They would 
not have been exiles then." 

" Certainly their lot was as hard as death," said 
Grandfather. " All that could be done for them 
in the English provinces was to send them to the 
almshouses, or bind them out to taskmasters.^ 
And this was the fate of persons who had pos- 
sessed a comfortable property in their native 
10 country. Some of them found means to embark 
for France ; but though it was the land of their 
forefathers, it must have been a foreign land to 
them. Those who remained behind always cher- 
ished a belief that the King of France would never 
make peace with England till his poor Acadians 
were restored to their country and their homes." 

"And did he ? " inquired Clara. 

" Alas ! my dear Clara," said Grandfather, " it 

is improbable that the slightest whisper of the woes 

20 of Acadia ever reached the ears of Louis XV. 

The exiles grew old in the British provinces, and 

1 Taskmasters : overseers who see that slaves and other ser- 
vants do the tasks set for them to do. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 197 

never saw Acadia again. Their descendants re- 
main among us to this day. They have forgotten 
the Language of their ancestors, and probably 
retain no tradition ^ of their misfortunes. But, 
methinks, if I were an American poet, I would 
choose Acadia for the subject of my song." 

Since Grandfather first spoke these words, the 
most famous of American poets has drawn sweet 
tears from all of us by his beautiful poem " Evan- 
geline." ^ 

And now, having thrown a gentle gloom around 
the Thanksgiving fireside by a story that made 
the children feel the blessing of a secure and 
peaceful hearth, Grandfather put off the other 
events of the old French War till the next even- 
ing. 

1 Tradition : story, or history, that is handed down by word 
of mouth and not in books. 

2 See the poem, "Evangeline," by Longfellow. 



CHAPTER XX 

In the twilight of the succeeding eve, when the 
red beams of the fire were dancing upon the wall, 
the children besought Grandfather to tell them 
what had next happened to the old chair. 

" Our chair," said Grandfather, " stood all this 
time in the Province House. But Governor 
Shirley had seldom an opportunity to repose 
within its arms. He was leading his troops 
through the forest, or sailing in a flat-boat on 
10 Lake Ontario, or sleeping in his tent, while the 
awful cataract of Niagara sent its roar through 
his dreams. At one period, in the early part of 
the war, Shirley had the chief command of all the 
king's forces in America." 

" Did his young wife go with him to the war ? " 
asked Clara. 

"I rather imagine," replied Grandfather, "that 
she remained in Boston. This lady, I suppose, 

198 



GRANDFATHER' S CHAIR 199 

had oar chair all to herself, and used to sit in it 
during those brief intervals when a young French- 
woman can be quiet enough to sit in a chair. The 
people of Massachusetts were never fond of 
Governor Shirley's young French wife. They 
had a suspicion that she betrayed the military 
plans of the English to the generals of the French 
armies." 

" And was it true ? " inquired Clara. 

" Probably not," said Grandfather. " But the lo 
mere suspicion did Shirley a great deal of harm. 
Partly, perhaps, for this reason, but much more 
on account of his inefficiency ^ as a general, he 
was deprived of his command in 1756, and recalled 
to England. He never afterwards made any figure 
in public life." 

As Grandfather's chair had no locomotive prop- 
erties, and did not even run on casters, it cannot 
be supposed to have marched in person to the old 
French War. But Grandfather delayed its mo- 20 
mentous history while he touched briefly upon 
some of the bloody battles, sieges, and onslaughts, 

1 Inefficiency : lack of ability to do the work of a general. 



200 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

the tidings of which kept continually coming to 
the ears of the old inhabitants of Boston. The 
woods of the North were populous with fighting 
men. All the Indian tribes uplifted their toma- 
hawks, and took part either with the French or 
English. The rattle of musketry and roar of can- 
non disturbed the ancient quiet of the forest, and 
actually drove the bears and other wild beasts to 
the more cultivated portion of the country in the 

lo vicinity of the seaports. The children felt as if 
they were transported back to those forgotten 
times, and that the couriers from the army, with 
the news of a battle lost or won, might even now 
be heard galloping through the streets. Grand- 
father told them about the battle of Lake George 
in 1755, when the gallant Colonel Williams, a 
Massachusetts officer, was slain, with many of his 
countrymen. But General Johnson and General 
Lyman, with their army, drove back the enemy 

20 and mortally wounded the French leader, who 
was called the Baron Dieskau. A gold watch, 
pilfered from the poor baron, is still in existence, 
and still marks each moment of time without com- 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 201 

plaining of weariness, although its hands have 
been in motion ever since the hour of battle. 

In the first years of the war there were many 
disasters on the English side. Among these was 
the loss of Fort Oswego, in 1756, and of Fort 
William Henry in the following year. But the 
greatest misfortune that befell the English during 
the whole war was the repulse of General Aber- 
crombie, with his army, from the ramparts of Ti- 
conderoga in 1758. He attempted to storm the lo 
walls ; but a terrible conflict ensued,^ in which 
more than two thousand Englishmen and New^- 
Englanders were killed or wounded. The slain 
soldiers now lie buried around that ancient for- 
tress. When the plough passes over the soil, it 
turns up here and there a mouldering bone. 

Up to this period, none of the English generals 
had shown any military talent. Shirley, the Earl 
of Loudon, and General Abercrombie had each 
held the chief command at different times ; but 20 
not one of them had won a single important tri- 
umph for the British arms. This ill success was 
1 Ensued ; followed. 



202 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

not owing to the want of means ; for, in 1758, 
General Abercrombie had fifty thousand soldiers 
under his command. But the French general, the 
famous Marquis de Montcalm, possessed a great 
genius for war, and had something within him 
that taught him how battles were to be won. 

At length, in 1759, Sir Jeffrey Amherst was 
appointed commander-in-chief of all the British 
forces in America. He was a man of ability and 

loa skilful soldier. A plan was now formed for 
accomplishing that object which had so long been 
the darling wish of the New-Englanders, and 
which their fathers had so many times attempted. 
This was the conquest of Canada. 

Three separate armies were to enter Canada 
from different quarters. One of the three, com- 
manded by General Prideaux, was to embark on 
Lake Ontario and proceed to Montreal. The 
second, at the head of which was Sir Jeffrey 

20 Amherst himself, was destined to reach the river 
St. Lawrence, by the way of Lake Champlain, and 
tiien go down the river to meet the third army. 
This last, led by General Wolfe, was to enter the 



GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR ■ 203 

St. Lawrence from the sea and ascend the river to 
Quebec. It is to Wolfe and Iiis army that Eng- 
hmd owes one of the most splendid triumphs ever 
written in her history. 

Grandfather described the siege of Quebec, and 
told how Wolfe led his soldiers up a rugged and 
lofty precipice, that rose from the shore of the 
river to the plain on which the city stood. This 
bold adventure was achieved in the darkness of 
night. At daybreak tidings w^ere carried to the lo 
Marquis de Montcalm that the English army was 
waiting to give him battle on the Plains of Abra- 
ham.^ This brave French general ordered his 
drums to strike up, and immediately marched to 
encounter Wolfe. 

He marched to liis own death. The battle was 
the most fierce and terrible that had ever been 
fought in America. General Wolfe was at the 
head of his soldiers, and, while encouraging them 
onward, received a mortal wound. He reclined 20 
against a stone in the agonies of death ; but it 

^ Plains of Abraham : high plains, overlooking the St. Law- 
rence River, just out of Quebec. 



204 grandfather's chair 

seemed as if his spirit could not pass away while 
the fight yet raged so doubtfully. Suddenly a 
shout came pealing across the battle-field. " They 
flee ! they flee ! " and, for a moment, Wolfe lifted 
his languid head. " Who flee ? " he inquired. "The 
French," replied an officer. "Then I die satisfied! " 
said Wolfe, and expired in the arms of victory. 

" If ever a warrior's death were glorious, Wolfe's 
was so," said Grandfather ; and his eye kindled, 
10 though he was a man of peaceful thoughts and 
gentle spirit. " His life-blood streamed to baptize 
the soil which he had added to the dominion of 
Britain. His dying breath was mingled with his 
army's shout of victory." 

" Oh, it was a good death to die ! " cried Char- 
ley, with glistening eyes. " Was it not a good 
death, Laurence ? " 

Laurence made no reply ; for his heart burned 
within him, as the picture of Wolfe, dying on the 
20 blood-stained field of victory, arose to his imagina- 
tion, and yet he had a deep inward consciousness 
that, after all, there was a truer glory than could 
thus be won. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 205 

" There were other battles in Canada after 
Wolfe's victory," resumed Grandfather ; " but we 
may consider the old French War as having ter- 
minated with this great event. The treaty of 
peace, however, was not signed until 1763. The 
terms of the treaty were very disadvantageous to 
the French ; for all Canada, and all Acadia, and 
the Island of Cape Breton, — in short, all the 
territories that France and England had been 
fighting about for nearly a hundred years, — were lo 
surrendered to the English." 

" So now, at last," said Laurence, " New Eng- 
land had gained her wish. Canada was taken." 

" And now there was nobody to fight with but 
the Indians," said Charley. 

Grandfather mentioned two other important 
events. The first was the great fire of Boston in 
1760, when the glare from nearly three hundred 
buildings, all in flames at once, shone through the 
windows of the Province House, and threw a 20 
fierce lustre upon the gilded foliage and lion's 
head of our old chair. The second event was the 
proclamation, in the same year, of George III as 



206 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

King of Great Britain. The blast of the trumpet 
sounded from the balcony of the Town House, and 
awoke the echoes far and wide, as if to challenge 
all mankind to dispute King George's title. 

Seven times, as the successive monarchs of 
Britain ascended the throne, the trumpet peal of 
proclamation had been heard by those who sat in 
our venerable chair. But when the next king put 
on his father's crown, no trumpet peal proclaimed 
to it to New England. Long before that day America 
had shaken off the royal government. ^ 

1 Royal government : the government of the king of England. 



\ 



CHAPTER XXI 

Now that Grandfather had fought through the 
old French War, in which our chair made no very 
distinguished figure, he thought it high time to 
tell the children some of the more private history 
of that praiseworthy old piece of furniture. 

" In 1757," said Grandfather, » after Shirley had 
been summoned to England, Thomas Pownall was 
appointed governor of Massachusetts. He was a 
gay and fashionable English gentleman, who had 
spent much of his life in London, but had a con- 
siderable acquaintance with America. The new 
governor appears to have taken no active part in 
the war that was going on ; although, at one 
period, he talked of marching against the enemy 
at the head of his company of cadets. But, on 
the whole, he probably concluded that- it was 
more befitting a governor to remain quietly in our 
chair, reading the neAvspapers and official docu- 
ments." 

207 



208 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

" Did the people like Pownall? " asked Cliarley. 

" They found no fault with him," replied Grand- 
father. " It was no time to quarrel with the gov- 
ernor when the utmost harmony was required in 
order to defend the country against the French. 
But Pownall did not remain long in Massachusetts. 
In 1759 he was sent to be governor of South 
Carolina. In thus exchanging one government 
for another, I suppose he felt no regret, except at 
10 the necessity of leaving Grandfathers chair be- 
hind him." 

" He might have taken it to South Carolina," 
observed Clara. 

" It appears to me," said Laurence, giving the 
rein to his fancy, " that the fate of this ancient 
chair was, somehow or other, mysteriously con- 
nected with the fortunes of old Massachusetts. 
If Governor Pownall had put it aboard the vessel 
in which he sailed for South Carolina, she would 
2o probably have lain wind-bound in Boston Harbor. 
It was ordained ^ that the chair should not be taken 
away. Don't you think so, Grandfather ? " 
1 Ordained : decided, determined, settled. 



GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 209 

" It was kept here for Grandfather and me to 
sit in together," said little Alice, " and for Grand- 
father to tell stories about." 

" And Grandfather is very glad of such a com- 
panion and such a theme," said the old gentleman, 
with a smile. " Well, Laurence, if our oaken 
chair, like the wooden palladium ^ of Troy, was 
connected with the country's fate, yet there 
appears to have been no supernatural ^ obstacle to 
its removal from the Province House. In 1760 lo 
Sir Francis Bernard, who had been governor of 
New Jersey, was appointed to the same office in 
Massachusetts. He looked at the old chair, and 
thought it quite too shabby to keep company with 
a new set of mahogany chairs and an aristocratic 
sofa which had just arrived from London. He 
therefore ordered it to be put away in the 
garret." 

1 Palladium : a statue of the goddess Pallas. In ancient Troy 
such a statue existed, and it was believed that so long as that 
was kept within the city, the city would be safe from the 
assaults of the Greeks. 

2 Supernaiural : above nature, something out of the ordinary 
occurrence of events. 



210 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

The children were loud in their exclamations 
against this irreverent conduct of Sir Francis 
Bernard. But Grandfather defended him as well 
as he could. He observed that it was then thirty 
years since the chair had been beautified by Gov- 
ernor Belcher. Most of the gilding was worn off 
by the frequent scourings which it had undergone 
beneath the hands of a black slave. The damask ^ 
cushion, once so splendid, was now squeezed out 

10 of all shape, and absolutel}' in tatters, so many 
were the ponderous gentlemen who had deposited 
their weight upon it during these thirty years. 

Moreover, at a council held by the earl of 
Loudon with the governors of New England in 
1757, his lordship, in a moment of passion, had 
kicked over the chair with his military boot. By 
this unprovoked and unjustifiable act, our vener- 
able friend had suffered a fracture of one of its 
rungs. 

2o " But," said Grandfather, " our chair, after all, 
was not destined to spend the remainder of its 

1 Damask : a silk cloth usually woven with raised designs or 
figures. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 211 

days in the inglorious obscurity of a garret. 
Thomas Hutchinson,^ lieutenant-governor of the 
province, was told of Sir Francis Bernard's de- 
sign. This gentleman was more familiar with 
the history of New England than any other man 
alive. He knew all the adventures and vicissi- 
tudes ^ through which the old chair had passed, 
and could have told as accurately as your own 
Grandfatlier Avho were the personages that had 
occupied it. Often, while visiting at the Province lo 
House, he had eyed the chair with admiration, 
and felt a longing desire to become the possessor 
of it. He now waited upon Sir Francis Bernard, 
and easily obtained leave to carry it home." 

" And I hope," said Clara, " he had it varnished 
and gilded anew." 

" No," answered Grandfather. " What Mr. 
Hutchinson desired was, to restore the chair as 
much as possible to its original aspect, such as it 
had appeared when it was first made out of the 20 

1 A great-great-grandson of Anne Hutchinson, whom you 
read about in the early pages of this book. 

2 Vicissitudes : changes. 



212 GRANDFATHEK^ S CHAIR 

Earl of Lincoln's oak-tree. For this purpose he 
ordered it to be well scoured with soap and sand 
and polished with wax, and then provided it with 
a substantial leather cushion. When all was com- 
pleted to his mind he sat down in the old chair, 
and began to write his History of Massachu- 
setts." 

" Oh, that was a bright thought in Mr. Hutch- 
inson ! " exclaimed Laurence. " And no doubt 

10 the dim figures of the former possessors of the 
chair flitted around him as he wrote, and inspired 
him with a knowledge of all that they had done 
and suffered while on earth." 

" Why, my dear Laurence," replied Grandfather, 
smiling, " if Mr. Hutchinson was favored with 
any such extraordinary inspiration, he made but 
a poor use of it in his history ; for a duller piece 
of composition never came from any man's pen. 
However, he was accurate, at least, though far 

20 from possessing the brilliancy or philosophy ^ of 
Mr. Bancroft." 

1 Philosophy : a person may write history and have it all true, 
but stupid ; another man may write of the same events, and 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 213 

" But if Mr. Hutchinson knew the history of 
the chair," rejoined Laurence, "his heart must 
have been stirred by it." 

'' It must, indeed," said Grandfather. " It 
would be entertaining and instructive, at the pres- 
ent day, to imagine what were Mr. Hutchinson's 
thoughts as he looked back upon the long vista ^ 
of events with which this chair was so remarkably 
connected." 

And Grandfather allow^ed his fancy to shape lo 
out an image of Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson, 
sitting in an evening revery^ by his fireside, and 
meditating on the changes that had slowly passed 
around the chair. 

A devoted monarchist,^ Hutchinson would heave 
no sigh for the subversion * of the original repub- 

show how one thing was the cause or result of another. We say 
that the last man writes his history philosophically. This was 
the way in which Bancroft wrote his history. 

1 Vista : view. 

2 Revery : in a dreamy state, neither asleep nor awake. 

3 Monarchist : one devoted to the monarch, as in this case, 
to the king. 

4 Subversion : overthrow, destruction. 



214 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

lican government,^ the purest that the world had 
seen, Avith which the colony began its existence. 
While reverencing the grim and stern old Puri- 
tans as the founders of his native land, he would 
not wish to recall them from their graves, nor to 
awaken again that king-resisting spirit which he 
imagined to be laid asleep with them forever. 
Winthrop, Dudley, Bellingham,Endicott, Leverett, 
and Bradstreet, — all these had had their day. 
[oAges might come and go, but never again would 
the people's suffrages place a republican governor 
in their ancient chair of state. 

Coming down to the epoch of the second char- 
ter, Hutchinson thought of the ship-carpenter 
Phipps, springing from the lowest of the people 
and attaining to the loftiest station in the land. 
But he smiled to perceive that this governor's 
example would awaken no turbulent ambition in 
the lower orders ; for it Avas a king's gracious 

1 Original republican government : this refers to the form of 
government which the early colonists established, in which the 
people as a whole had a share in making the laws and raising 
their own taxes. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 215 

boon 1 alone that made the ship-carpenter a ruler. 
Hutchinson rejoiced to mark the gradual growth 
of an aristocratic class, to whom the common 
people, as in duty bound, were learning humbly 
to resign the honors, emoluments,''^ and authority 
of state. He saw — or else deceived himself — 
that, throughout this epoch, the people's disposi- 
tion to self-government had been growing weaker 
tlirough long disuse, and now existed only as a 
faint traditionary ^ feeling. 

The lieutenant-governor's revery had now come 
down to the period at which he himself was sit- 
tinsf in the historic chair. He endeavored to 
throw his glance forward over the coming years. 
There, probably, he saw visions of hereditary * rank 
for himself and other aristocratic colonists. He 
saw the fertile fields of New England proportioned 

1 Boon : favor, good-will. 

2 Emoluments : rewards, pay, gain, profits. 

3 Traditionary : something handed down by word of mouth; 
in this case, something almost forgotten. 

* Hereditary : a right which passes down from father to son, 
as is the case in England where the oldest son of a lord becomes 
a lord in turn upon the death of his father. 



216 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

out among a few great landholders, and descend- 
ing by entail 1 from generation to generation. He 
saw the people a race of tenantry,^ dependent on 
their lords. He saw stars, garters, coronets, and 
castles. 

" But," added Grandfather, turning to Laurence, 
"the lieutenant-governor's castles were built no- 
where but among the red embers of the fire before 
which he was sitting. And, just as he had con- 
lostructed a baronial residence for himself and his 
posterity, the fire rolled down upon the hearth 
and crumbled it to ashes ! " 

Grandfather now looked at his watch, which 
hung within a beautiful little ebony temple, sup- 
ported by four Ionic columns. He then laid his 
hand on the golden locks of little Alice, whose 

1 Entail : this means that the land was to be set aside for a 
certain class of people as great landholders, and could not be 
obtained by anybody outside of this class. This would thus keep 
the land in the same families forever. 

2 Tenantry : these would be the people who would work the 
land for the wealthy landlords, but would have no right to buy 
any of it for themselves. 



. GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 217 

head had sunk down upon the arm of our illustrious 
chair. 

" To bed, to bed, dear child ! " said he. " Grand- 
father has put you to sleep already by his stories 
about these famous old people." 



CHAPTER XXII 

On the evening of New Year's Day Grandfather 
was walking to and fro across the carpet, listening 
to the rain which beat hard against the curtained 
windows. The riotous blast shook the casement 
as if a strong man were striving to force his en- 
trance into the comfortable room. With every 
puff of the w^ind the fire leaped upward from the 
hearth, laughing and rejoicing at the shrieks of 
the wintry storm. 

Meanwhile Grandfather's chair stood in its cus- 
tomary place by the fireside. The bright blaze 
gleamed upon the fantastic figures of its oaken 
back, and shone through the open work, so that a 
complete pattern was thrown upon the opposite 
side of the room. Sometimes, for a moment or 
two, the shadow remained immovable, as if it were 
painted on the wall. Then all at once it began to 
quiver, and leap, and dance with a frisky motion. 

218 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 219 

Anon, seeming to remember that these antics were 
unworthy of such a dignified and venerable chair, 
it suddenly stood still. But soon it began to 
dance anew. 

" Only see how Grandfather's chair is dancing ! " 
cried little Alice. 

And she ran to the wall and tried to catch hold 
of the flickering shadow ; for, to children of five 
years old, a shadow seems almost as real as a 
substance. lo 

" I wish," said Clara, " Grandfather would sit 
down in the chair and finish its history." 

If the children had been looking at Grandfather, 
they would have noticed that he paused in his 
walk across the room when Clara made this re- 
mark. The kind old gentleman was ready and 
willing to resume his stories of departed times. 
But he had resolved to wait till his auditors should 
request him to proceed, in order that they might 
find the instructive histor}^ of the chair a pleasure, 20 
and not a task. 

" Grandfather," said Charley, " I am tired to 
death of this dismal rain and of hearing the wind 



220 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

roar in the chimney. I have had no good time all 
day. It would be better to hear stories about 
the chair than to sit doing nothing and thinking 
of nothing." 

To say the truth, our friend Charley was very 
much out of humor with the storm, because it had 
kept him all day within doors, and hindered him 
from making a trial of a splendid sled, which 
Grandfather had given him for a New Year's gift. 

10 As all sleds, nowadays, must have a name, the one 
in question had been honored with the title of 
Grandfather's Chair, which was painted in golden 
letters on each of the sides. Charley greatly ad- 
mired the construction of the new vehicle, and 
felt certain that it would outstrip any other sled 
that ever dashed adown the long slopes of the 
Common. 

As for Laurence, he happened to be thinking 
just at this moment about the history of the chair. 

20 Kind old Grandfather had made him a present of 
a volume of engraved portraits, representing the 
features of eminent and famous people of all 
countries. Among them Laurence found several 



GRANDFATHEH^S CHAIR 221 

who had formerly occupied our chair or been con- 
nected with its adventures. While Grandfather 
walked to and fro across the room, the imagina- 
tive boy was gazing at the historic chair. He 
endeavored to summon up the portraits which he 
had seen in his volume, and to place them, like 
living figures, in the empty seat. 

" The old chair has begun another year of its 
existence to-day," said Laurence. " We must 
make haste, or it will have a new history to be lo 
told before we finish the old one." 

" Yes, my children," replied Grandfather, with a 
smile and a sigh, " another year has been added to 
those of the two centuries and upward which have 
passed since the Lady Arbella brought this chair 
over from England. It is three times as old as 
your Grandfather ; but a year makes no impression 
on its oaken frame, while it bends the old man 
nearer and nearer to the earth ; so let me go on 
with my stories while I may." 20 

Accordingly Grandfather came to the fireside 
and seated himself in the venerable chair. The 
lion's head looked down with a grimly good-na- 



222 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

tured aspect as the children clustered around the 
old gentleman's knees. It almost seemed as if a 
real lion were peeping over the back of the chair, 
and smiling at the group of auditors with a sort of 
lionlike complaisance. Little Alice, whose fancy 
often inspired her with singular ideas, exclaimed 
that the lion's head was nodding at her, and that 
it looked as if it were going to open its wide jaAvs 
and tell a story, 
lo But as the lion's head appeared to be in no haste 
to speak, and as there was no record or tradition 
of its having spoken during the whole existence of 
the chair. Grandfather did not consider it worth 
while to wait. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

" Charley, my boy," said Grandfather, " do 
you remember who was the last occupant of the 
chair ? " 

" It was Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson," an- 
swered Charley. " Sir Francis Bernard, the new 
governor, had given him the chair, instead of put- 
ting it away in the garret of the Province House. 
And when we took leave of Hutchinson he was 
sitting by his fireside, and thinking of the past 
adventures of the chair and of what was to come." 

" Very well," said Grandfather ; " and you recol- 
lect that this was in 1763, or thereabouts, at the 
close of the old French War. Now, that you may 
fully comprehend the remaining adventures of the 
chair, I must make some brief remarks on the 
situation and character of the New England colo- 
nies at this period." 

So Grandfather spoke of the earnest loyalty of 

223 



224 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

our fathers during the old French War, and after 
the conquest of Canada had brought that war to 
a triumphant close. 

The people loved and reverenced the King of 
England even more than if the ocean had not 
rolled its waves between him and them ; for, at 
the distance of three thousand miles, they could 
not discover his bad qualities and imperfections. 
Their love was increased by the dangers which 

lo they had encountered in order to heighten his 
glory and extend his dominion. Throughout the 
war the American colonists had fought side by 
side with the soldiers of Old England ; and nearly 
thirty thousand young men had laid down their 
lives for the honor of King George. And the sur- 
vivors loved him the better because they had done 
and suffered so much for his sake. 

But there were some circumstances that caused 
America to feel more independent of England than 

20 at an earlier period. Canada and Acadia had now 
become British provinces ; and our fathers were 
no longer afraid of the bands of French and Ind- 
ians who used to assault them in old times. For a 



GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 225 

century and a half this had been the great terror 
of New Enghmd. Now the old French soldier 
was driven from the North forever. And even 
had it been otherwise, the English colonies were 
growing so populous and powerful that they might 
have felt fully able to protect themselves without 
any help from England. 

There were thoughtful and sagacious men, who 
began to doubt whether a great country like 
America would always be content to remain under lo 
the government of an island three thousand miles 
away. This was the more doubtful, because the 
English Parliament had long ago made laws which 
were intended to be very beneficial to England at 
the expense of America. By these laws the colo- 
nists were forbidden to manufacture articles for 
their own use, or to carry on trade with any nation 
but the English. 

" Now," continued Grandfather, " if King George 
III and his counsellors had considered these things 20 
wisely, they would have taken another course than 
they did. But when they saw how rich and pop- 
ulous the colonies had grown, their first thought 

Q 



226 GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 

was how they might make more profit out of them 
than lieretofore. England was enormously in debt 
at the close of the old French War ; and it was 
pretended that this debt had been contracted^ for 
the defence of the American colonies, and that, 
therefore, a part of it ought to be paid by 
them." 

'' Why, this was nonsense ! " exclaimed Charley. 
" Did not our fathers spend their lives, and their 
lo money too, to get Canada for King George ? " 

" True, they did," said Grandfather ; " and they 
told the English rulers so. But the king and his 
ministers would not listen to good advice. In 
1765 the British Parliament passed a Stamp 
Act." 

" What was that ? " inquired Charley. 

" The Stamp Act," replied Grandfather, " was 

a law by which all deeds, bonds, and other papers 

of the same kind were ordered to be marked with 

20 the king's stamp ; and Avithout this mark they 

were declared illegal and void. Now, in order to 

1 Contracted : when a person goes into debt either purposely 
or accidentally, we say that he has ' ' contracted ' ' a debt. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 221 

get a blank sheet of paper with the king's stamp 
upon it, people were obliged to pay threepence 
more than the actual value of the paper. And 
this extra sum of threepence was a tax, and was 
to be paid into the king's treasury." 

" I am sure threepence was not worth quarrel- 
line about ! " remarked Clara. 

" It was not for threepence, nor for any amount 
of money, that America quarrelled with England," 
replied Grandfather ; " it was for a great princi- lo 
pie. The colonists were determined not to be 
taxed except by their own representatives. They 
said that neither the king and Parliament, nor any 
other power on earth, had a right to take tlieir 
money out of their pockets unless they freely gave 
it. And, rather than pay tln-eepence when it was 
unjustly demanded, they resolved to sacrifice all 
the wealth of the country, and their lives along 
with it. They therefore made a most stubborn 
resistance to the Stamp Act." 20 

" That was noble ! " exclaimed Laurence. " I 
understand how it was. If they had quietly paid 
the tax of threepence, they would have ceased to 



228 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

be freemen, and would have become tributaries ^ of 
England. And so they contended about a great 
question of right and wrong, and put everything 
at stake for it." 

" You are right, Laurence," said Grandfather, 
" and it was really amazing and terrible to see 
what a change came over the aspect of the people 
the moment the English Parliament had passed 
this oppressive act. The former history of our 

10 chair, my children, has given you some idea of 
what a harsh, unyielding, stern set of men the old 
Puritans were. For a good many years back, how- 
ever, it had seemed as if these characteristics were 
disappearing. But no sooner did England offer 
wrong to the colonies than the descendants of the 
early settlers proved that they had the same kind 
of temper as their forefathers. The moment 
before. New England appeared like an humble 
and loyal subject of the crown ; the next instant, 

20 she showed the grim, dark features of an old king- 
resisting Puritan." 

1 Tributaries : dependants. They would have lost their inde- 
pendence entirely. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 229 

Grandfather spoke briefly of the public measures 
that were taken in opposition to the Stamp Act. 
As this law affected all the American colonies 
alike, it naturally led them to think of consulting 
together in order to procure its repeal. For tliis 
purpose the Legislature of Massachusetts proposed 
that delegates from every colony should meet in 
Congress. Accordingly nine colonies, both North- 
ern and Southern, sent delegates to the city of 
New York. lo 

" And did they consult about going to war with 
England ? " asked Charley. 

" No, Charley," answered Grandfather ; "a great 
deal of talking was yet to be done before England 
and America could come to blows. The Congress 
all stated the rights and grievances of the colo- 
nists. They sent a humble petition to the king, 
and a memorial^ to the Parliament, beseeching that 
the Stamp Act might be repealed. This was all 
that the delegates had it in their power to do." 20 

1 Memorial : a written statement saying why the act was 
wrong and why it should not be enforced ; in general, a state- 
ment of facts. 



230 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

"They might as well have stayed at home, 
then," said Charley. 

" By no means," replied Grandfather. " It was 
a most important and memorable event, this first 
coming together of the American people by their 
representatives from the North and South. If 
England had been wise, she would have trembled 
at the first word that was spoken in such an 
assembly." 
10 These remonstrances and petitions, as Grand- 
father observed, were the work of grave, thought- 
ful, and prudent men. Meantime the young and 
hot-headed people went to work in their own way. 
It is probable that the petitions of Congress would 
have had little or no effect on the British states- 
men if the violent deeds of the American people 
had not shown how much excited the people were. 
Liberty Tree was soon heard of in England. 

" What was Liberty Tree ? " inquired Clara. 
20 " It was an old elm -tree," answered Grand- 
father, " which stood near the corner of Essex 
Street, opposite the Boylston Market. Under 
the spreading branches of this great tree the 



GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 231 

people used to assemble whenever they wished to 
express their feelings and opinions. Thus, after 
a while, it seemed as if the liberty of the country 
was connected with Liberty Tree." 

" It was a glorious fruit for a tree to bear," 
remarked Laurence. 

'' It bore strange fruit, sometimes," said Grand- 
father. " One morning in August, 1765, two 
figures wei'e found hanging on the sturdy branches 
of Liberty Tree. They were dressed in square- lo 
skirted coats and small-clothes ; and, as their wigs 
hung down over their faces, they looked like real 
men. One was intended to represent the Earl of 
Bute, who was supposed to have advised the king 
to tax America. The other was meant for the 
eftigy 1 of Andrew Oliver, a gentleman belonging 
to one of the most respectable families in Massa- 
chusetts." 

1 Effigy : an effigy is usually a stuffed figure of a person. It is a 
quite common occurrence to hang people in effigy when a crowd 
of people wish to show great hatred or contempt for such a 
person. The only suffering that the victim experiences is the- 
disgrace attached to such a performance. 



232 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

" What harm had he done ? " inquired Charley. 

" The king had appointed him to be distributor 
of the stamps," answered Grandfather. " Mr. 
Oliver would have made a great deal of money by 
this business. But the people frightened him so 
much by hanging him in effigy, and afterwards 
by breaking into his house, that he promised to 
have nothing to do with the stamps. And all 
the king's friends throughout America were com- 
lopelled to make the same promise." 



CHAPTER XXIV 

" Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson," con- 
tinued Grandfather, " now began to be unquiet in 
our old chair. He had formerly been much re- 
spected and beloved by the people, and had often 
proved himself a friend to their interests. But 
the time was come when he could not be a friend 
to the people without ceasing to be a friend to the 
king. It was pretty generally understood that 
Hutchinson would act according to the king's 
wishes, right or wrong, like most of the other lo 
gentlemen who held offices under the crown. Be- 
sides, as he was brother-in-law of Andrew Oliver, 
the people now felt a particular dislike to him." 

" I should think," said Laurence, " as Mr. 
Hutchinson had written the history of our Puritan 
forefathers, he would have known what the tem- 
per of the people was, and so have taken care not 
to wrong them." 

233 



234 GRAND FATHER^ S CHAIR 

" He trusted in the might of the King of Eng- 
land," replied Grandfather, "and thought himself 
safe under the shelter of the throne. If no dis- 
pute had arisen between the king and the people, 
Hutchinson would have had the character of a 
wise, good, and patriotic magistrate. But, from 
the time that he took part against the rights of 
his country, the people's love and respect were 
turned to scorn and hatred, and he never had 
10 another hour of peace." 

In order to show what a fierce and dangerous 
spirit was now aroused among the inhabitants. 
Grandfather related a passage from history which 
we shall call 

THE HUTCHINSON MOB 

On the evening of the 26th of August, 1765, a 
bonfire was kindled in King Street. It flamed 
high upward, and threw a ruddy light over the 
front of the Town House, on which was displayed 
a carved representation of the royal arms. The 
20 gilded vane of the cupola glittered in the blaze. 
The kindling of this bonfire was the well-known 



grandfather's chair 235 

signal for the populace of Boston to assemble in 
the street. 

Before the tar-barrels, of which the bonfire Avas 
made, were half burned out, a great crowd had 
come together. They were chiefly laborers and 
seafaring men, together with many young appren- 
tices, and all those idle people about town who 
are ready for any kind of mischief. Doubtless 
some schoolboys were among them. 

While these rough figures stood round the blaz- lo 
ing bonfire, you might hear them speaking bitter 
words against the high oflicers of the province. 
Governor Bernard, Hutchinson, Oliver, Storey, 
Hallowell, and other men whom King George de- 
lighted to honor, were reviled as traitors to the 
country. Now and then, perhaps, an officer of 
the crown passed along the street, wearing the 
gold-laced hat, white wig, and embroidered waist- 
coat which were the fashion of the day. But 
when the people beheld him they set up a wild 20 
and angry howl ; and their faces had an evil 
aspect, which was made more terrible by the 
flickering blaze of the bonfire. 



236 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

"I should like to throw the traitor right into 
. that blaze ! " perhaps one fierce rioter would say. 

" Yes ; and all his brethren too I " another might 
reply ; " and the governor and old Tommy Hutch- 
inson into the hottest of it ! " 

" And the Earl of Bute along with them ! " mut- 
tered a third ; " and burn the whole pack of them 
under King George's nose ! No matter if it singed 
him ! " 
lo Some such expressions as these, either shouted 
aloud or muttered under the breath, were doubt- 
less heard in King Street. The mob, meanwhile, 
were growing fiercer and fiercer, and seemed ready 
even to set the town on fire for the sake of burn- 
ing the king's friends out of house and home. 
And yet, angry as they were, they sometimes 
broke into a loud roar of laughter, as mischief 
and destruction were their sport. 

But we must leave the rioters for a time, and 

20 take a peep into the lieutenant-governor's splendid 

mansion. It was a large brick house, decorated 

with Ionic pilasters, and stood in Garden Court 

Street, near the North Square. 



GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 237 

While the angry mob in King Street were shout- 
ing his name, Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson 
sat quietly in Grandfather's chair, unsuspicious 
of the evil that was about to fall upon his head. 
His beloved family were in the room with him. 
He had thrown off his embroidered coat and pow- 
dered wig, and had on a loose -flowing gown and 
purple velvet cap. He had likewise laid aside the 
cares of state and all the thoughts that had wearied 
and perplexed him throughout the day. lo 

Perhaps, in the enjoyment of his home, he had 
forgotten all about the Stamp Act, and scarcely 
remembered that there was a king across the 
ocean, who had resolved to make tributaries of 
the New-Englanders. Possibly, too, he had for- 
gotten his own ambition, and would not have 
exchanged his situation, at that moment, to be 
governor, or even a lord. 

The wax candles were now lighted, and showed 
a handsome room, well provided with rich furni- 20 
ture. On the walls hung the pictures of Hutch- 
inson's ancestors, who had been eminent men in 
their day, and were honorably remembered in the 



238 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

history of the country. Every object served to 
mark the residence of a rich, aristocratic gentle- 
man, who held himself high above the common 
people, and could have nothing to fear from them. 
In a corner of the room, thrown carelessly upon a 
chair, were the scarlet robes of the chief justice. 
This high office, as well as those of lieutenant- 
governor, councillor, and judge of probate, was 
filled by Hutchinson. 

Who or what could disturb the domestic quiet 
of such a great and powerful personage as now 
sat in Grandfather's chair ? 

The lieutenant-governor's favorite daughter sat 
by his side. She leaned on the arm of our great 
chair, and looked up affectionately into her father's 
face, rejoicing to perceive that a quiet smile was 
on his lips. But suddenly a shade came across 
her countenance. She seemed to listen attentively, 
as if to catch a distant sound. 

"What is the matter, my child?" inquired 
Hutchinson. ' 

" Father, do you not hear a tumult in the 
streets ? " said she. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 239 

The lieutenant-governor listened. But his ears 
were duller than those of his daughter ; he could 
hear nothing more terrible than the sound of a 
summer breeze, sighing among the tops of the 
elm-trees. 

'' No, foolish child ! " he replied, playfully pat- 
ting her cheek. " There is no tumult. Our Bos- 
ton mobs are satisfied with what mischief they 
have already done. The king's friends need not 
tremble." lo 

So Hutchinson resumed his pleasant and peace- 
ful meditations, and again forgot that there were 
any troubles in the world. But his family were 
alarmed, and could not help straining their ears to 
catch the slightest sound. More and more dis- 
tinctly they heard shouts, and then a trampling of 
many feet. While they were listening, one of the 
neighbors rushed breathless into the room. 

" A mob ! a terrible mob ! " cried he. " They 
have broken into Mr. Storey's house, and into Mr. 20 
Hallowell's, and have made themselves drunk 
with the liquors in his cellar ; and now they are 
coming hither, as wild as so many tigers. Flee, 



240 GRAND FATHER^ S CHAIR 

lieutenant-governor, for your life ! for your 
life ! " 

" Father, dear father, make haste I " shrieked 
his children. 

But Hutchinson would not hearken to them. 
He was an old lawyer ; and he could not realize 
that the people would do anything so utterly law- 
less as to assault him in his peaceful home. He 
was one of King George's chief ofticers ; and it 
10 would be an insult and outrage upon the king 
himself if the lieutenant-governor should suffer 
any wrong. 

" Have no fears on my account," said he. " I 
am perfectly safe. The king's name shall be my 
protection." 

Yet he bade his family retire into one of the 
neighboring houses. His daughter would have 
remained ; but he forced her away. 

The huzzas and riotous uproar of the mob were 

20 now heard, close at hand. The sound was terrible, 

and struck Hutchinson with the same sort of 

dread as if an enraged wild beast had broken loose 

and were roaring for its prey. He crept softly to 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 241 

the window, /riiere lie beheld an immense con- 
course of people, filling all the street and rolling 
onward to his house. It was like a tempestuous 
flood, that had swelled beyond its bounds and 
would sweep everything before it. Hutchinson 
trembled ; he felt, at that moment, that the wrath 
of the people was a thousand fold more terrible 
than the wrath of the king. 

That was a moment when a loyalist ^ and an 
aristocrat like Hutchinson might have learned lo 
how powerless are kings, nobles, and great men, 
when the low and humble range themselves against 
them. King George could do nothing for his 
servant now. Had King George been there he 
could have done nothing for himself. If Hutch- 
inson had understood this lesson, and remembered 
it, he need not, in after years, have been an exile 
from his native country, nor finally have laid his 
bones in a distant land. 

There was now a rush against the doors of the 20 
house. The people sent up a hoarse cry. At 
this instant the lieutenant-governor's daughter, 
1 Loyalist : one who was loyal to the king. 

R 



242 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

whom he had supposed to be in a place of safety, 
ran into the room and threw her arms around him. 
She had returned by a private entrance. 

" Father, are you mad ? " cried she. " Will the 
king's name protect you now ? Come with me, or 
they will have your life." 

"True," muttered Hutchinson to himself ; "what 
care these roarers for the name of king ? I must 
flee, or they will trample me down on the floor of 
10 my own dwelling." 

Hurrying away, he and his daughter made their 
escape by the private passage at the moment 
when the rioters broke into the house. The fore- 
most of them rushed up the staircase, and entered 
the room which Hutchinson had just quitted. 
There they beheld our good old chair facing them 
with quiet dignity, while the lion's head seemed 
to move its jaws in the unsteady light of their 
torches. Perhaps the stately aspect of our ven- 
2oerable friend, which had stood firm through a 
century and a half of trouble, arrested them for 
an instant. But they were thrust forward by 
those behind, and the chair lay overthrown. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 243 

Then began the work of destruction. The 
carved and polished mahogany tables were shat- 
tered with heavy clubs and hewn to splinters with 
axes. The marble hearths and mantle-pieces were 
broken. The volumes of Hutchinson's library, so 
precious to a studious man, were torn out of their 
covers, and the leaves sent flying out of the win- 
dows. Manuscripts, containing secrets of our 
country's history, which are now lost forever, 
were scattered to the winds. 

The old ancestral portraits, whose fixed coun- 
tenances looked down on the wild scene, were 
rent from the walls. The mob triumphed in their 
downfall and destruction, as if these pictures of 
Hutchinson's forefathers had committed the same 
offences as their descendant. A tall looking-glass, 
which had hitherto presented a reflection of the 
enraged and drunken multitude, was now smashed 
into a thousand fragments. We gladly dismiss 
the scene from the mirror of our fancy. 

Before morning dawned the walls of the house 
were all that remained. The interior was a 
dismal scene of ruin. A shower pattered in at 



244 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

the broken windows ; and when Hutchinson and 
his family returned, they stood shivering in the 
same room where the last evening had seen them 
so peaceful and happy. 

" Grandfather," said Laurence, indignantly, " if 
the people acted in this manner, they Avere not 
worthy of even so much liberty as the King of 
England was willing to allow them." 

"It was a most unjustifiable act, like many 

10 other popular movements at that time," replied 
Grandfather. " But we must not decide against 
the justice of the people's cause merely because an 
excited mob was guilty of outrageous violence. 
Besides, all these things were done in the first 
fury of resentment. Afterwards the people grew 
more calm, and were more influenced by the counsel 
of those wise and good men who conducted them 
safely and gloriously through the Revolution." 
Little Alice, with tears in her blue eyes, said 

20 that she hoped the neighbors had not let Lieuten- 
ant-Governor Hutchinson and his family be home- 
less in the street, but had taken them into their 
houses and been kind to them. Cousin Clara, 



GRANDFATHER' S CHAIR 245 

recollecting the perilous situation of our beloved 
chair, inquired what had become of it. 

" Nothing was heard of our chair for some time 
afterwards," answered Grandfather. " One day 
in September, the same Andrew Oliver, of whom 
I before told you, was summoned to appear at high 
noon under Liberty Tree. This Avas the strangest 
summons that had ever been heard of ; for it was 
issued in the name of the whole people, who thus 
took upon themselves the authority of a sovereign ^ lo 
power. Mr. Oliver dared not disobey. Accord- 
ingly, at the appointed hour he went, much against 
his will, to Liberty Tree." 

Here Charley interposed a remark that poor 
Mr. Oliver found but little liberty under Liberty 
Tree. Grandfather assented. 

'' It was a stormy day," continued he. " The 
equinoctial gale blew violently, and scattered the 
yellow leaves of Liberty Tree all along the street. 
Mr. Oliver's wig was dripping with water-drops ; 20 
and he probably looked haggard, disconsolate, and 
humbled to earth. Beneath the tree, in Grand- 
1 Sovereign : the highest power. 



246 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

father's chair, — our own venerable chair, — sat 
Mr. Richard Dana, a justice of the peace. He 
administered an oath to Mr. Oliver that he would 
never have anything to do with distributing the 
stamps. A vast concourse of people heard the 
oath, and shouted when it was taken." 

" There is something grand in this," said Lau- 
rence. '' I like it, because the people seem to have 
acted with thoughtfulness and dignity ; and this 

to proud gentleman, one of his Majesty's high officers, 
was made to feel that King George could not pro- 
tect him in doing wrong." 

" But it was a sad day for poor Mr. Oliver," 
observed Grandfather. " From his youth upward 
it had probably been the great principle of his life 
to be faithful and obedient to the king. And 
now, in his old age, it must have puzzled and dis- 
tracted him to find the sovereign people setting up 
a claim to his faith and obedience." 

20 Grandfather closed the evening's conversation 
by saying that the discontent of America was so 
great, that, in 1766, the British Parliament was 
compelled to repeal the Stamp Act. The people 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR ■ 247 

made great rejoicings, but took care to keep Lib- 
erty Tree well pruned and free from caterpillars 
and canker-worms. They foresaw tliat there might 
yet be occasion for them to assemble under its far- 
projecting shadow. 



CHAPTER XXV 

The next evening, Clara, who remembered that 
our chair had been left standing in the rain under 
Liberty Tree, earnestly besought Grandfather to 
tell when and where it had next found shelter. 
Perhaps she was afraid that the venerable chair, 
by being exposed to the inclemency of a September 
gale, might get the rheumatism in its aged joints. 
" The chair," said Grandfather, " after the cere- 
mony of Mr. Oliver's oath, appears to have been 
10 quite forgotten by the multitude. Indeed, being 
much bruised and rather rickety, owing to the 
violent treatment it had suffered from the Hutch- 
inson mob, most people would have thought that 
its days of usefulness were over. Nevertheless, it 
was conve3^ed away under cover of the night and 
committed to the care of a skilful joiner. He 
doctored our old friend so successfully, that, in the 
course of a few days, it made its appearance in the 

248 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 249 

public room of the British Coffee House, in King 
Street." 

" But why did not Mr. Hutchinson get posses- 
sion of it again ? " inquired Charley. 

''I know not," answered Grandfather, "unless 
he considered it a dishonor and disgrace to the 
chair to have stood under Liberty Tree. At all 
events, he suffered it to remain at the British 
Coffee House, which Avas the principal hotel in 
Boston. It could not possibly have found a sit- lo 
nation where it would be more in the midst of 
business and bustle, or would witness more im- 
portant events, or be occupied by a greater variety 
of persons." 

Grandfather went on to tell the proceedings of 
the despotic king and ministry of England after 
the repeal of the Stamp Act. They could not 
bear to think that their right to tax America 
should be disputed by the people. In the year 
1767, therefore, they caused Parliament to pass an 20 
act for laying a duty on tea and some other arti- 
cles that were in general use. Nobody could now 
buy a pound of tea without paying a tax to King 



250 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

George. This sclieme was pretty craftily con- 
trived ; for the women of America were very fond 
of tea, and did not like to give up the use of it. 

But the people were as much opposed to this 
new act of Parliament as they had been to the 
Stamp Act. England, however, was determined 
that they should submit. In order to compel 
their obedience, two regiments, consisting of more 
than seven hundred British soldiers, were sent to 

10 Boston. They arrived in September, 1768, and 
were landed on Long Wharf. Thence they 
marched to the Common with loaded muskets,, 
fixed bayonets, and great pomp and parade. So 
now, at last, the free town of Boston was guarded 
and overawed by redcoats as it had been in the 
days of old Sir Edmund Andros. 

In the month of November more regiments 
arrived. There were now four thousand troops in 
Boston. The Common was Avhitened with their 

20 tents. Some of the soldiers were lodged in Fan- 

. euil Hall, which the inhabitants looked upon as a 

consecrated place, because it had been the scene of 

a great many meetings in favor of liberty. One 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 251 

regiment was placed in the Town House, which 
we now call the Old State House. The lower 
floor of this edifice had hitherto been used by the 
merchants as an exchange. In the upper stories 
were the chambers of the judges, the representa- 
tives, and the governor's council. The venerable 
councillors could not assemble to consult about 
the welfare of the province without being clial- 
lenged by sentinels and passing among the bay- 
onets of the British soldiers. lo 

Sentinels likewise were posted at the lodgings 
of the officers in many parts of the town. When 
the inhabitants approached they were greeted by 
the sharp question, " Who goes there ? " while the 
rattle of the soldier's musket was heard as he pre- 
sented it against their breasts. There was no quiet 
even on the Sabbath day. The pious descend- 
ants of the Puritans were shocked by the uproar of 
military music ; the drum, fife, and bugle drown- 
ing the holy organ peal and the voices of the 20 
singers. It would appear as if the British took 
every method to insult the feelings of the people. 

" Grandfather," cried Charley, impatiently, "the 



252 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

people did not go to fighting half soon enough ! 
These British redcoats ought to have been driven 
back to their vessels the very moment they landed 
on Long Wharf." 

" Many a hot-headed young man said the same 
as you do, Charley," answered Grandfather. "But 
the elder and wiser people saw that the time was 
not yet come. Meanwhile, let us take another 
peep at our old chair." 

10 " Ah, it drooped its head, I know," said Charley, 
"when it saw how the province was disgraced. 
Its old Puritan friends never would have borne 
such doings." 

" The chair," proceeded Grandfather, " was now 
continually occupied by some of the high tories,^ 
as the king's friends were called, who frequented 
the British Coffee House. Officers of the Custom 
House, too, which stood on the opposite side of 
King Street, often sat in the chair wagging their 

20 tongues against John Hancock." 

1 Tories : the tories were the party during the Revolutionary 
War, which sided witli the king and against the efforts which the 
colonists were making to gain their independence. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 253 

" Why against him ? " asked Charley. 

" Because he was a great merchant and con- 
tended against paying duties to tlie king," said 
Grandfather. 

" Well, frequently, no doubt, the officers of the 
British regiments, when not on duty, used to fling 
themselves into the arms of our venerable chair. 
Fancy one of them, a red-nosed captain in his 
scarlet uniform, playing with the hilt of his sword, 
and making a circle of his brother officers merry lo 
with ridiculous jokes at the expense of the poor 
Yankees. And perhaps he would call for a bottle 
of wine, or a steaming bowl of punch, and drink 
confusion to all rebels." 

'' Our grave old chair must have been scandal- 
ized at such scenes," observed Laurence ; '' the 
chair that had been the Lady Arbella's, and which 
the holy apostle Eliot had consecrated." 

" It certainly was little less than sacrilege,^ " re- 
plied Grandfather ; " but the time was coming 20 
when even the churches, where hallowed pastors 
had long preached the word of God, were to be 
1 Sacrilege : an act of violating something sacred. 



254 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

torn clown or desecrated ^ by the British troops. 
Some years passed, however, before such things 
were done." 

Grandfather now told his auditors that, in 1769, 
Sir Francis Bernard went to England after having 
been governor of Massachusetts ten years. He 
was a gentleman of many good qualities, an excel- 
lent scholar, and a friend to learning. But he 
was naturally of an arbitrary disposition ; and he 

10 had been bred at the University of Oxford, where 
young men were taught that the divine right of 
kings was the only thing to be regarded in mat- 
ters of government. Such ideas were ill adapted 
to please the people of Massachusetts. They re- 
joiced to get rid of Sir Francis Bernard, but liked 
his successor, Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson, 
no better than himself. 

About this period the people were much incensed 
at an act committed by a person who held an office 

20 in the Custom House. Some lads, or young men, 
were snowballing his windows. He fired a musket 

1 Desecrated : turned from its proper sacred use to improper 
uses. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 255 

at them, and killed a poor German boy, only eleven 
years old. This event made a great noise in town 
and country, and much increased the resentment 
that was already felt against the servants of the 
crown. 

" Now, children," said Grandfather, '' I wish to 
make you comprehend the position of the British 
troops in King Street. This is the same which 
we now call State Street. On the south side of 
the Town House, or old State House, was what lo 
military men call a court of guard, defended by 
two brass cannon, which pointed directly at one 
of the doors of the above edifice. A large party 
of soldiers were always stationed in the court of 
guard. The Custom House stood at a little dis- 
tance down King Street, nearly where the Suffolk 
Bank now stands, and a sentinel was continually 
pacing before its front." 

" I shall remember this to-morrow," said Char- 
ley ; " and I will go to State Street, so as to see 20 
exactly where the British troops were stationed." 

" And before long," observed Grandfather, " I 
shall have to relate an event which made King 



256 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

Street sadly famous on both sides of the Atlantic. 
The history of our chair will soon bring us to this 
melancholy business." 

Here Grandfather described the state of thinsfs 
which arose from the ill-will that existed between 
the inhabitants and the redcoats. The old and 
sober part of the townspeople were very angry at 
the government for sending soldiers to overawe 
them. But those gray-headed men were cautious, 
10 and kept their thoughts and feelings in their own 
breasts, without putting themselves in the way of 
the British bayonets. 

The younger people, however, could hardly be 
kept within such prudent limits. They reddened 
with wrath at the very sight of a soldier, and 
would have been willing to come to blows with 
them at any moment. For it was their opinion 
that every tap of a British drum within the pen- 
insula of Boston was an insult to the brave old 
20 town. 

" It was sometimes the case," continued Grand- 
father, ^' that affrays happened between such wild 
young men as these and small parties of the sol- 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 257 

diers. No weapons had hitherto been used except 
fists or cudgels. But when men have loaded mus- 
kets in their hands, it is easy to foretell that they 
will soon be turned against the bosoms of those 
who provoke their anger," 

"Grandfather," said little Alice, looking fear- 
fully into his face, " your voice sounds as though 
you were going to tell us something awful ! " 



CHAPTER XXVI 

Little Alice, by her last remark, proved her- 
self a good judge of what was expressed by the 
tones of Grandfather's voice. He had given the 
above description of the enmity between the towns- 
people and the soldiers in order to prepare the 
minds of his auditors for a very terrible event. It 
was one that did more to heighten the quarrel be- 
tween England and America than anything that 
had yet occurred. 
10 Without further preface. Grandfather began the 
story of 

THE BOSTON MASSACRE 

It was now the 3d of March, 1770. The sunset 
music of the British regiments was heard as usual 
throughout the town. The shrill fife and rattling 
drum awoke the echoes in King Street, while the 
last ray of sunshine was lingering on the cupola 
of the Town House. And now all the sentinels 

258 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 259 

were posted. One of them marched up and down 
before the Custom House, treading a short path 
through the snow, and longing for the time when 
he woukl be dismissed to the warm fireside of the 
guard room. Meanwhile Captain Preston was, 
perhaps, sitting in our great chair before the 
hearth of the British Coffee House. In the course 
of the evening there were two or three slight com- 
motions, which seemed to indicate that trouble Avas 
at hand. Small parties of young men stood at the lo 
corners of the streets or walked along the narrow 
pavements. Squads of soldiers who were dis- 
missed from duty passed by them, shoulder to 
shoulder, with the regular step which they had 
learned at the drill. Whenever these encounters 
took place, it appeared to be the object of the 
young men to treat the soldiers with as much 
incivility as possible. 

" Turn out, you lobsterbacks ^! " one would say. 

1 Lobsterbacks : a lobster when boiled and ready to serve is 
red. The British soldiers were called lobsterbacks because they 
wore red coats. The " redcoat " is a very common name for a 
British soldier. 



260 GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 

" Crowd them off the sidewalks ! " another would 
cry. " A redcoat has no right in Boston streets ! " 

" Oh, you rebel rascals ! " perhaps the soldiers 
would reply, glaring fiercely at the young men. 
" Some day or other we'll make our way through 
Boston streets at the point of the bayonet ! " 

Once or twice such disputes as these brought 

on a scuffle ; which passed off, however, without 

attracting much notice. About eight o'clock, for 

10 some unknown cause, an alarm-bell rang loudly 

and hurriedly. 

At the sound many people ran out of their 
houses, supposing it to be an alarm of fire. But 
there were no flames to be seen, nor was there any 
smell of smoke in the clear, frosty air ; so that 
most of the townsmen went back to their own 
firesides and sat talking with their wives and chil- 
dren about the calamities of the times. Others 
who were younger and less prudent remained in 
20 the streets ; for there seems to have been a presenti- 
ment that some strange event was on the eve of 
taking place. 

Later in the evening, not far from nine o'clock, 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 261 

several young men passed by the Town House, 
and walked down King Street. The sentinel was 
still on his post in front of the Custom House, 
pacing to and fro ; while, as he turned, a gleam of 
light from some neighboring window glittered on 
the barrel of his musket. At no great distance 
were the barracks and the guard house, where his 
comrades were probably telling stories of battle 
and bloodshed. 

Down towards the Custom House, as I told you, lo 
came a party of wild young men. When they drew 
near the sentinel he halted on his post, and took 
his musket from his shoulder, ready to present 
the bayonet at their breasts. 

" Who goes there ? " he cried, in the grufp, per- 
emptory tones of a soldier's challenge. 

The young men, being Boston boys, felt as if 
they had a right to walk their own streets without 
being accountable to a British redcoat, even though 
he challenged them in King George's name. They 20 
made some rude answer to the sentinel. There 
was a dispute, or perhaps a scuffle. Other soldiers 
heard the noise, and ran hastily from the barracks 



262 GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 

to assist their comrades. At the same time many 
of the townspeople rushed into King Street by va- 
rious avenues, and gathered in a crowd round about 
the Custom House. It seemed wonderful how 
such a multitude had started up all of a sudden. 

The wrongs and insults which the people had 
been suffering for many months now kindled them 
into a rage. They threw snowballs and lumps of 
ice at the soldiers. As the tumult grew louder it 
10 reached the ears of Captain Preston, the officer of 
the day. He immediately ordered eight soldiers 
of the main guard to take their muskets and fol- 
low him. They marched across the street, forc- 
ing their way roughly through the crowd, and 
pricking the townspeople with their bayonets. 

A gentleman (it was Henry Knox, afterwards 
general of the American artillery) caught Captain 
Preston's arm. 

" For Heaven's sake, sir," exclaimed he, " take 
20 heed what you do, or there will be bloodshed." 

" Stand aside ! " answered Captain Preston, 
haughtily. " Do not interfere, sir. Leave me to 
manage the affair." 



GRANDFATHER' S CHAIR 263 

Arriving at the sentinel's post, Captain Preston 
drew up his men in a semicircle, with their faces 
to the croAvd and their rear to the Custom House. 
When the people saw the officer and beheld the 
threatening attitude with which the soldiers 
fronted them, their rage became almost uncon- 
trollable. 

" Fire, you lobsterbacks ! " bellowed some. 

'' You dare not fire, you cowardly redcoats ! " 
cried others. lo 

" Rush upon them ! " shouted many voices. 
" Drive the rascals to their barracks ! Down with 
them ! Down with them ! Let them fire if they 
dare ! " 

Amid the uproar, the soldiers stood glaring at 
the people with the fierceness of men whose trade 
was to shed blood. 

Oh, what a crisis had now arrived ! Up to this 
very moment, the angry feelings between England 
and America might have been pacified. England 20 
had but to stretch out the hand of reconciliation, 
and acknowledge 'that she had hitherto mistaken 
her rights, but would do so no more. Then the 



264 GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 

aucient bonds of brotherhood would again have 
been knit together as firmly as in old times. The 
habit of lo3^alty, which had grown as strong as 
instinct, was not utterly overcome. The perils 
shared, the victories won, in the old French War, 
when the soldiers of the colonies fought side by 
side with their comrades from beyond the sea, 
were unforgotten yet. England was still that be- 
loved country which the colonists called their 

10 home. King George, though he had frowned upon 
America, was still reverenced as a father. 

But should the king's soldiers shed one drop of 
American blood, then it was a quarrel to the death. 
Never, never would America rest satisfied until she 
had torn down the royal authority and trampled it 
in the dust. 

" Fire, if you dare, villains ! " hoarsely shouted 
the people, while the muzzles of the muskets were 
turned upon them. " You dare not fire ! " 

20 They appeared ready to rush upon the levelled 
bayonets. Captain Preston waved his sword, and 
uttered a command which could not be distinctly 
heard amid the uproar of shouts that issued from 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 265 

a hundred throats. But his soldiers deemed that 
he had spoken the fatal mandate, " Fire ! " The 
flash of their muskets lighted up the streets, and 
the report rang loudly between the edifices. It 
was said, too, that the figure of a man, with a cloth 
hanging down over his face, was seen to step into 
the balcony of the Custom House and discharge a 
musket at the crowd. 

A gush of smoke had overspread the scene. It 
rose heavily, as if it were loath to reveal tlie lo 
dreadful spectacle beneath it. Eleven of the sons 
of New England lay stretched upon the street. 
Some, sorely wounded, were struggling to rise 
again. Others stirred not nor groaned ; for they 
were past all pain. Blood was streaming upon the 
snow ; and that purple stain in the midst of King 
Street, though it melted away in the next day's 
sun, was never forgotten nor forgiven by the 
people. 

Grandfather was interrupted by the violent sobs 20 
of little Alice. In his earnestness he had neglected 
to soften down the narrative so that it might not 



266 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

terrify the heart of this unworldly infant. Since 
Grandfather began the history of our chair, little 
Alice had listened to many tales of war. But 
probably the idea had never really impressed itself 
upon her mind that men have shed the blood of 
their fellow-creatures. And now that this idea 
was forcibly presented to her, it affected the sweet 
child with bewilderment and horror. 

" I ought to have remembered our dear little 
10 Alice," said Grandfather, reproachfully to himself. 
'' Oh, what a pity ! Her heavenly nature has now 
received its first impression of earthly sin and 
violence. Well, Clara, take her to bed and com- 
fort her. Heaven grant that she may dream away 
the recollection of the Boston massacre I " 

" Grandfather," said Charley, when Clara and 
little Alice had retired, '' did not the people rush 
upon the soldiers and take revenge ? " 

" The town drums beat to arms," replied Grand- 

20 father, " the alarm-bells rang, and an immense 

multitude rushed into King Street. Many of 

them had weapons in their hands. The British 

prepared to defend themselves. A whole regi- 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 267 

ment was drawn up in the street, expecting an 
attack ; for the townsmen appeared ready to throw 
themselves upon the bayonets." 

" And how did it end ? " asked Charley. 

" Governor Hutchinson hurried to the spot," 
said Grandfather, " and besought the people to 
have patience, promising that strict justice should 
be done. A da}^ or two afterward the British 
troops were withdrawn from town and stationed 
at Castle William. Captain Preston and the lo 
eight soldiers were tried for murder. But none 
of them were found guilty. The judges told the 
jury that the insults and violence which had been 
offered to the soldiers justified them in firing at 
the mob." 

" The Revolution," observed Laurence, who had 
said but little during the evening, " was not such 
a calm, majestic movement as I supposed. I do 
not love to hear of mobs and broils in the street. 
These things were unworthy of the people when 20 
they had such a great object to accomplish." 

" Nevertheless, the world has seen no grander 
movement than that of our Revolution from first 



268 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

to last," said Grandfather. " The people, to a 
man, were full of a great and noble sentiment. 
True, there may be much fault to find with their 
mode of expressing this sentiment ; but they knew 
no better; the necessity was upon them to act out 
their feelings in the best manner they could. We 
must forgive what was wrong in their actions, 
and look into their hearts and minds for the 
honorable motives that impelled them." 

lo " And I suppose," said Laurence, " there were 
men who knew how to act worthily of what they 
felt." 

" There were many such," replied Grandfather ; 
'' and we will speak of some of them hereafter." 

Grandfather here made a pause. That night 
Charley had a dream about the Boston massacre, 
and thought that he himself was in the crowd and 
struck down Captain Preston with a great club. 
Laurence dreamed that he was sitting in our great 

20 chair, at the window of the British Coffee House, 
and beheld the whole scene which Grandfather 
had described. It seemed to him, in his dream, 
that, if the townspeople and the soldiers would 



GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 2G9 

but have heard him speak a single word, all the 
slaughter might have been averted. But there 
was such an uproar that it drowned his voice. 

The next morning the two boys went together 
to State Street and stood on the very spot where 
the first blood of the Revolution had been shed. 
The Old State House was still there, presenting 
almost the same aspect that it had worn on that 
memorable evening, one-and-seventy years ago. 
It is the sole remaining witness of the Boston lo 
massacre. 



CHAPTER XXVII 

The next evening the astral lamp ^ was lighted 
earlier than usual, because Laurence was very 
much engaged in looking over the collection of 
portraits which had been his New Year's gift from 
Grandfather. 

Among them he found the features of more 
than one famous personage who had been con- 
nected with the adventures of our old chair. 
Grandfather bade him draw the table nearer to 
10 the fireside ; and they looked over the portraits 
together, while Clara and Charley likewise lent 
their attention. As for little Alice, she sat in 
Grandfather's lap, and seemed to see the very men 
alive whose faces were there represented. 

Turning over the volume, Laurence came to the 
portrait of a stern, grim-looking man, in plain 

1 Astral lamp : a kind of lamp formerly much in use, so made 
as to cast as small a shadow as possible. 

270 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 271 

attire, of mucli more modern fashion than that of 
the old Puritans. But the face might well have 
befitted one of those iron-hearted men. Beneath 
the portrait was the name of Samuel Adams. 

" He was a man of great note in all the doings 
that brought about the Revolution," said Grand- 
father. " His character was such, that it seemed 
as if one of the ancient Puritans had been sent 
back to earth to animate the people's hearts with 
the same abhorrence of tyranny that had distin- lo 
guished the earliest settlers. He was as religious 
as they, as stern and inflexible, and as deeply 
imbued with democratic principles. He, better 
than any one else, may be taken as a represen- 
tative of the people of New England, and of the 
spirit with which they engaged in the Revolution- 
ary struggle. He was a poor man, and earned his 
bread by a humble occupation ; but with his 
tongue and pen he made the King of England 
tremble on his throne. Remember him, my chil-20 
dren, as one of tlie strong men of our country." 

" Here is one whose looks show a very different 
character," observed Laurence, turning to the 



272 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

portrait of John Hancock. " I should think, by 
his splendid dress and courtly aspect, that he was 
one of the king's friends." 

" There never was a greater contrast than be- 
tween Samuel Adams and John Hancock," said 
Grandfather. " Yet they were of the same side 
in politics, and had an equal agency ^ in the Rev- 
olution. Hancock was born to the inheritance of 
the largest fortune in New England. His tastes 

10 and habits were aristocratic. He loved gorgeous 
attire, a splendid mansion, magnificent furniture, 
stately festivals, and all that was glittering and 
pompous in external things. His manners were 
so polished that there stood not a nobleman at the 
footstool of King George's throne who was a more 
skilful courtier than John Hancock might have 
been. Nevertheless, he in his embroidered clothes, 
and Samuel Adams in his threadbare coat, 
wrought together in the cause of liberty. Adams 

20 acted from pure and rigid principle. Hancock, 
though he loved his country, yet thought quite as 
much of his own popularity as he did of the peo- 
1 Agency : power. 



grandfather's chair 273 

pie's rights. It is remarkable that these two men, 
so very different as I describe them, were the only 
two exempted 1 from pardon by the king's proc- 
lamation." 

On the next leaf of the book was the portrait 
of General Joseph Warren. Charley recognized 
the name, and said that here was a greater man 
than either Hancock or Adams. 

"Warren was an eloquent and able patriot," 
replied Grandfather. " He deserves a lasting lo 
memory for his zealous efforts in behalf of liberty. 
No man's voice was more powerful in Faneuil Hall 
than Joseph Warren's. If his death had not hap- 
pened so early in the contest, he would probably 
have gained a high name as a soldier." 

The next portrait was a venerable man, who 
held his thumb under his chin, and, through his 
spectacles, appeared to be attentively reading a 
manuscript. 

" Here we see the most illustrious Boston boy 20 

1 Exempted : not included in. King George promised to 
pardon all the "rebels," as he called the Americans who were 
opposing him, except Hancock and Adams. 

T 



274 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

that ever lived," said Grandfather. " This is 
Benjamin Franklin. But I will not try to com- 
press into a few sentences the character of the 
sage, who as a Frenchman expressed it, snatched 
the lightning from the sky and the sceptre from a 
tyrant. Mr. Sparks must help you to the knowl- 
edge of Franklin." 

The book likewise contained portraits of James 
Otis and Josiah Quincy. Both of them, Grand- 

10 father observed, were men of wonderful talents 
and true patriotism. Their voices were like the 
stirring tones of a trumpet arousing the country 
to defend its freedom. Heaven seemed to have 
provided a greater number of eloquent men than 
had appeared at any other period, in order that 
the people might be fully instructed as to their 
wrongs and the method of resistance. 

"It is marvellous," said Grandfather, " to see 
how many powerful writers, orators, and soldiers 

20 started up just . at the time when they were 
wanted. There was a man for every kind of 
work. It is equally wonderful that men of such 
different characters were all made to unite in the 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 275 

one object of establishing the freedom and inde- 
pendence of America. There was an over-ruling 
providence above them." 

" Here was another great man," remarked Lau- 
rence, pointing to the portrait of John Adams. 

" Yes ; an earnest, warm-tempered, honest, and 
most able man," said Grandfather. '^ At the 
period of which we are now speaking he was a 
lawyer in Boston. He was destined in after years 
to be ruler over the whole American people, lo 
whom he contributed so much to form into a 
nation." 

Grandfather here remarked that many a New- 
Englander, who had passed his boyhood and youth 
in obscurity, afterward attained to a fortune which 
he never could have foreseen even in his most 
ambitious dreams. John Adams, the second 
President of the United States and the equal of 
crowned kings, was once a schoolmaster and coun- 
try lawyer. Hancock, the first signer of the 20 
Declaration of Independence, served his appren- 
ticeship with a merchant. Samuel Adams, after- 
wards governor of Massachusetts, was a small 



276 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

tradesman and a tax-gatherer. General Warren 
was a physician, General Lincoln a farmer, and 
General Knox a bookbinder. General Nathaniel 
Greene, the best soldier, except Washington, in 
the Revolutionary army, was a Quaker and a 
blacksmith. All these became illustrious men, 
and can never be forgotten in American his- 
tory. 

" And any boy who is born in America may 

10 look forward to the same things," said our am- 
bitious friend Charley. 

After these observations. Grandfather drew the 
book of portraits towards him and showed the 
children several British peers ^ and members of 
Parliament who had exerted themselves either 
for or against the rights of America. There were 
the Earl of Bute, Mr. Grenville, and Lord North. 
These were looked upon as deadly enemies to our 
country. 

20 Among the friends of America was Mr. Pitt, 

1 Peers : the members of the upper house of the English 
Parliament, as differing from the lower house, or House of 
Commons. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 277 

afterward Earl of Chatham, who spent so much 
of his wondrous eloquence in endeavoring to warn 
England of the consequences of her injustice. He 
fell down on the floor of the House of Lords after 
uttering almost his dying words in defence of our 
privileges as freemen. There was Edmund Burke, 
one of the wisest men and greatest orators that 
ever the world produced. There was Colonel 
Barre, who had been among our fathers, and knew 
that they had courage enough to die for their lo 
rights. There was Charles James Fox, who never 
rested until he had silenced our enemies in the 
House of Commons. 

" It is very remarkable to observe how many of 
the ablest orators in the British Parliament were 
favorable to America," said Grandfather. " We 
ought to remember these great Englishmen with 
gratitude; for their speeches encouraged our 
fathers almost as much as those of our own 
orators in Faneuil Hall and under Liberty Tree, 20 
Opinions which might have been received with 
doubt, if expressed only by a native American, 
were set down as true, beyond dispute, when they 



278 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

came from the lips of Chatham, Burke, Barre, or 
Fox." 

" But, Grandfather," asked Laurence, " were 
there no able and eloquent men in this country 
who took the part of King George ? " 

'' There were many men of talent who said what 
they could in defence of the king's tyrannical pro- 
ceedings," replied Grandfather. " But they had 
the worst side of the argument, and therefore sel- 
lodom said anything worth remembering. More- 
over, their hearts were faint and feeble ; for they 
felt that the people scorned and detested them. 
They had no friends, no defence, except in the 
bayonets of the British troops. A blight fell 
upon all their faculties, because they were con- 
tending against the rights of their own native 
land." 

" What were the names of some of them ? " 
inquired Charley. 
20 " Governor Hutchinson, Chief Justice Oliver, 
Judge Auchmuty, the Rev. Mather Byles, and 
several other clergymen, were among the most 
noted loyalists," answered Grandfather. 



GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 279 

" I wish the people had tarred and feathered 
every man of them ! " cried Charley. 

''That wish is very wrong, Charley," said Grand- 
father. " You must not think that there is no 
integrity and honor except among those who stood 
up for the freedom of America. For aught I know, 
there was quite as much of these qualities on one 
side as on the other. Do you see nothing admira- 
ble in a faithful adherence to an unpopular cause? 
Can you not respect that principle of loyalty which lo 
made the royalists give up country, friends, fortune, 
everything, rather than be false to their king? It 
was a mistaken principle; but many of them cher- 
ished it honorably, and were martyrs to it." 

" Oh, I was wrong ! " said Charley, ingenu- 
ously. ^ "And I would risk my life rather than 
one of those good old royalists should be tarred 
and feathered." 

" The time is now come when we may judge 
fairly of tliem," continued Grandfather. " Be 20 

1 Ingenuously : frankly, high-mindedly. Pupils must not 
confuse this word with the word "ingeniously." The two 
words are in no way connected or related. 



280 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

the good and true men among them honored ; ■ 
for they were as much our countrymen as the 
patriots were. And, thank Heaven, our country 
need not be ashamed of her sons, — of most of 
them at least, — whatever side they took in the 
Revolutionary contest." 

Among the portraits was one of King George 
III. Little Alice clapped her hands, and seemed 
pleased with the bluff good-nature of his physiog- 

lonomy.i But Laurence thought it strange that a 
man with such a face, indicating hardly a common 
share of intellect, should have had influence 
enough on human affairs to convulse the world 
with war. Grandfather observed that this poor 
king had always appeared to him one of the most 
unfortunate persons that ever lived. He was so 
honest and conscientious, that, if he had been only 
a private man, his life would probably have been 
blameless and happy. But his was that worst of 

20 fortunes, — to be placed in a station far beyond 
his abilities. 

" And so," said Grandfather, " his life, while he 
1 Physiognomy : face. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 281 

retained Avliat intellect Heaven had gifted him 
with, was one long mortification. ^ At last he 
grew crazed with care and trouble. For nearly 
twenty years the monarch of England was con- 
fined as a madman. In his old age, too, God took 
away his eyesight ; so that his royal palace was 
nothing to him but a dark, lonesome prison- 
house." 

1 Mortification : tlie state of being vexed, or disgusted, with 
one's self. 



CHAPTER XXVIII 

" Our old chair," resumed Grandfather, " did 
not now stand in the midst of a gay circle of 
British officers. The troops, as I told you, had 
been removed to Castle William immediately after 
the Boston massacre. Still, however, there were 
many tories, custom-house officers, and English- 
men who used to assemble in the British Coffee 
House and talk over the affairs of the period. 
Matters grew worse and worse ; and in 1773 the 
10 people did a deed which incensed the king and 
ministry more than any of their former doings." 

Grandfather here described the affair, which is 
known by the name of the Boston Tea Party. 
The Americans, for some time past, had left off 
importing tea, on account of the oppressive tax. 
The East India Company, in London, had a large 
stock of tea on hand, which they had expected to 
sell to the Americans, but could find no market 

282 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 283 

for it. But, after a while, the government per- 
suaded this company of merchants to send the tea 
to America. 

" How odd it is," observed Clara, " that the lib- 
erties of America should have had anything to do 
with a cup of tea ! " 

Grandfather smiled, and proceeded with his 
narrative. When the people of Boston heard that 
several cargoes of tea were coming across the 
Atlantic, they held a great many meetings at lo 
Faneuil Hall, in the Old South Church, and under 
Liberty Tree. In the midst of their debates, 
three ships arrived in the harbor with the tea on 
board. The people spent more than a fortnight 
in consulting what should be done. At last, on 
the 16th of December, 1773, they demanded of 
Governor Hutchinson that he should immediately 
send the ships back to England. 

The governor replied that the ships must not 
leave the harbor until the custom-house duties 20 
upon the tea should be paid. Now, the payment 
of these duties was the very thing against which 
the people had set their faces ; because it was a 



284 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR ' J 

tax unjustly imposed upon America by the English 
government. Therefore, in the dusk of the even- 
ing, as soon as Governor Hutchinson's reply was 
received, an immense crowd hastened to Griffin's 
Wharf, where the tea-ships lay. The place is now 
called Liverpool Wharf. 

"When the crowd reached the wharf," said 
Grandfather, " they saw that a set of wild-looking 
figures were already on board of the ships. You 

10 would have imagined that the Indian warriors of 
old times had come back again ; for they wore the 
Indian dress, and had their faces covered with 
red and black paint, like the Indians when they 
go to war. These grim figures hoisted the tea- 
chests on the decks of the vessels, broke them open, 
and threw all the contents into the harbor." 

" Grandfather," said little Alice, " I suppose 
Indians don't love tea ; else they would never 
waste it so." 

20 "They were not real Indians, my child," 
answered Grandfather. " They were white men 
in disguise ; because a heavy punishment would 
have been inflicted on them if the king's officers 



GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 285 

had found who they were. But it was never 
known. From that day to this, though the matter 
has been talked of by all the world, nobody can 
tell the names of those Indian figures. Some 
people say that there were very famous men 
among them, who afterwards became governors 
and generals. Whether this be true I cannot 
tell." 

When tidings of this bold deed were carried to 
England, King George was greatly enraged. lo 
Parliament immediately passed an act, by which 
all vessels were forbidden to take in or discharge 
their cargoes at the port of Boston. In this w^ay 
they expected to ruin all the merchants, and starve 
the poor people, by depriving them of employment. 
At the same time another act was passed, taking 
away many rights and privileges which had been 
granted in the charter of Massachusetts. 

Governor Hutchinson, soon afterward, was sum- 
moned to England, in order that he might give 20 
his advice about the management of American 
affairs. General Gage, an officer of the old French 
War, and since commander-in-chief of the British 



286 GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 

forces in America, was appointed governor in his 
stead. One of his first acts was to make Salem, 
instead of Boston, the metropolis ^ of Massachu- 
setts, by summoning the' General Court to meet 
there. 

According to Grandfather's description, this 
was the most gloomy time that Massachusetts had 
ever seen. The people groaned under as heavy a 
tyranny as in the da5^s of Sir Edmund Andros. 
10 Boston looked as if it were afflicted with some 
dreadful pestilence, — so sad were the inhabitants, 
and so desolate the streets. There was no cheer- 
ful hum of business. The merchants shut up 
their warehouses, and the laboring men stood idle 
about the wharves. But all America felt interested 
in the good town of Boston ; and contributions 
were raised, in many places, for the relief of the 
poor inhabitants. 

" Our dear old chair ! " exclaimed Clara. 
20 '' How dismal it must have been now ! " 

"Oh," replied Grandfather, "a gay throng of 

1 Metropolis : the mother city, the principal city, as we speak 
of New York as being the metropolis of America. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 287 

officers had now come back to the British Coffee 
House ; so that the old chair had no lack of 
mirthful company. Soon after General Gage 
became governor a great many troops had arrived, 
and were encamped upon the Common. Boston 
was now a garrisoned and fortified town ; for the 
general had built a battery across the Neck, on the 
road to Roxbury, and placed guards for its de- 
fence. Everything looked as if a civil war were 
close at hand." lo 

" Did the people make ready to fight ? " asked 
Charley. 

'' A Continental Congress assembled at Phila- 
delphia," said Grandfather, "and proposed such 
measures as the}^ thought most conducive to the 
public good. A Provincial Congress was likewise 
chosen in Massachusetts. They exhorted the 
people to arm and discipline ^ themselves. A 
great number of minute-men were enrolled. The 
Americans called them minute-men, because they 20 
engaged to be ready to fight at a minute's warn- 

1 Discipline : to drill themselves, to educate themselves in the 
use of arms. 



288 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

ing. The English officers laughed, and said that 
the name was a very proper one, because the min- 
ute-men would run away the minute they saw the 
enemy. Whether they would fight or run was 
soon to be proved." 

Grandfather told the children that the first open 
resistance offered to the British troops, in the 
province of Massachusetts, was at Salem. Colonel 
Timothy Pickering, with thirty or forty militia- 

10 men, prevented the English colonel, Leslie, with 
four times as many regular soldiers, from taking 
possession of some military stores. No blood was 
shed on this occasion ; bat soon afterward it began 
to flow. 

General Gage sent eight hundred soldiers to Con- 
cord, about eighteen miles from Boston, to destroy 
some ammunition and j)rovisions which the colo- 
nists had collected there. They set out on their 
march on the evening of the 18th of April, 1775. 

20 The next morning, the general sent Lord Percy 
with nine hundred men to strengthen the troops 
that had gone before. All that day the inhab- 
itants of Boston heard various rumors. Some 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 289 

said that the British were making great shiughter 
among our countrymen. Others affirmed that 
every man had turned out with his musket, and 
that not a single soldier would ever get back to 
Boston. 

"It was after sunset," continued Grandfather, 
"when the troops, who had marched forth so 
proudly, were seen entering Charlestown. They 
were covered with dust, and so hot and weary 
that their tongues hung out of their mouths. lo 
Many of them were faint with wounds. They 
had not all returned. Nearly three hundred were 
strewn, dead or dying, along the road from Con- 
cord. The yeomanry had risen upon the invad- 
ers and driven them back." 

" Was this the battle of Lexington ? " asked 
Charley. 

" Yes," replied Grandfather ; " it was so called, 
because the British, without provocation, had fired 
upon a party of minute-men, near Lexington 20 
meeting-house, and killed eight of them. That 
fatal volley, which was fired by order of Major 
Pitcairn, began the war of the Revolution." 
u 



290 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

About this time, if Grandfather had been cor- 
rectly informed, our chair disappeared from the 
British Coffee House. The manner of its depar- 
ture cannot be satisfactorily ascertained. Perhaps 
the keeper of the Coffee House turned it out of 
doors on account of its old-fashioned aspect. 
Perhaps he sold it as a curiosity. Perhaps it was 
taken, without leave, by some person who regarded 
it as public property because it had once figured 
10 under Liberty Tree. Or perhaps the old chair, 
being of a peaceable disposition, had made use of 
its four oaken legs and run away from the seat of 
war. 

" It would have made a terrible clattering over 
the pavement," said Charley, laughing. 

" Meanwhile," continued Grandfather, " during 
the jnysterious non-appearance of our chair, an 
army of twenty thousand men had started up and 
come to the siege of Boston. General Gage and 
20 his troops were cooped up within the narrow pre- 
cincts^ of the peninsula. On the 17th of June, 
1775, the famous battle of Bunker Hill was fought. 
1 Precincts : limits, boundaries. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 291 

Here General Warren fell. The British got the 
victory, indeed, but with the loss of more than a 
thousand officers and men." 

" Oh, Grandfather," cried Charley, " you must 
tell us about that famous battle." 

" No, Charley," said Grandfather, " I am not 
like other historians. Battles shall not hold a 
prominent place in the history of our quiet and 
comfortable old chair. But to-morrow evening, 
Laurence, Clara, and yourself, and dear little Alice lo 
too, shall visit the Diorama of Bunker Hill. There 
you shall see the whole business, the burning of 
Charlestown and all, with your own eyes, and hear 
the cannon and musketry with your own ears." 



CHAPTER XXIX 

The next evening but one, when the children 
had given Grandfather a full account of the Dio- 
rama^ of Bunker Hill, they entreated him not to 
keep them any longer in suspense ^ about the fate 
of his chair. The reader will recollect that, at the 
last accounts, it had trotted away upon its poor 
old legs nobody knew whither. But, before grati- 
fying their curiosity, Grandfather found it neces- 
sary to say something about public events. 
> The Continental Congress, which was assembled 
at Philadelphia, was composed of delegates from 
all the colonies. They had now appointed George 
Washington, of Virginia, to be commander-in-chief 
of all the American armies. He Avas, at that time, 

1 Diorama : an exhibition of pictures in a series so arranged 
as to sliow the events in a manner as nearly as possible as that 
in which tliey occurred. 

2 Suspense : uncertainty, doubt. 

292 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 293 

a member of Congress ; but immediately left Phila- 
delphia, and began his journey to Massachusetts. 
On the 3d of July, 1775, he arrived at Cambridge, 
and took command of the troops which were 
besieging General Gage. 

'' Oh, Grandfather," exclaimed Laurence, '' it 
makes my heart throb to think what is coming 
now. We are to see General Washington himself." 

The children crowded around Grandfather and 
looked earnestly into his face. Even little Alice lo 
opened her sweet blue eyes, with her lips apart, 
and almost held her breath to listen ; so instinc- 
tive is the reverence of childhood for the father of 
his country. Grandfather paused a moment ; for 
he felt as if it might be irreverent to introduce 
the hallowed shade of Washington into a history 
where an ancient elbow-chair occupied the most 
prominent place. However, he determined to pro- 
ceed with his narrative, and speak of the hero 
when it was needful, but with unambitious sim-20 
plicity. 

So Grandfather told his auditors that, on Gen- 
eral Washington's arrival at Cambridge, his first 



294 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

care was to reconnoitre ^ the British troops with 
his spy-glass, and to examine the condition of his 
own army. He found that the American troops 
amounted to about fourteen thousand men. They 
were extended all round the peninsula of Boston, 
a space of twelve miles, from the high grounds of 
Roxbury on the right to Mystic River on the left. 
Some were living in tents of sail-cloth, some in 
shanties rudely constructed of boards, some in 

10 huts of stone or turf with curious windows and 
doors of basket-work. 

In order to be near the centre and oversee the 
whole of the wide-stretched army, the commander- 
in-chief made his headquarters at Cambridge, about 
half a mile from the colleges. ^ A mansion-house, 
which perhaps had been the country seat of some 
tory gentleman, was provided for his residence. 

" When General Washington first entered this 
mansion," said Grandfather, "he was ushered up 

20 the staircase and shown into a handsome apart- 
ment. He sat down in a large chair, which was 

1 Reconnoitre : to examine, to get a view of. 

'^ Colleges : Harvard College, which is located in Cambridge. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 295 

the most conspicuous object in the room. The 
noble figure of Washington would have done honor 
to a throne. As he sat there, with his hand rest- 
ing on the hilt of his sheathed sword, whicli was 
placed between his knees, his whole aspect well 
befitted the chosen man on whom his country 
leaned for the defence of her dearest rights. 
America seemed safe under his protection. His 
face was grander than any sculptor had ever 
wrought in marble ; none could behold him with- lo 
out awe and reverence. Never before had the 
lion's head at the summit of the chair looked 
down upon such a face and form as Washing- 
ton's." 

" Why, Grandfather ! " cried Clara, clasping her 
hands in amazement, " was it really so ? Did 
General Washington sit in our great chair ? " 

" I knew how it would be," said Laurence ; "I 
foresaw it the moment Grandfather began to 
speak." 20 

Grandfather smiled. But, turning from the 
personal and domestic life of the illustrious leader, 
he spoke of the methods which Washington 



296 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

adopted to win back the metropolis of New Eng- 
land from the British. 

The army, when he took command of it, was 
without any discipline or order. The privates 
considered themselves as good as their ojBficers; 
and seldom thought it necessary to obey their 
commands, unless they understood the why and 
wherefore. Moreover, they were enlisted for so 
short a period, that, as soon as they began to be 

10 respectable soldiers, it was time to discharge them. 
Then came new recruits, who had to be taught 
their duty before they could be of any service. 
Such was the army with which Washington had 
to contend against more than twenty veteran 
British regiments. 

Some of the men had no muskets, and almost 
all were without bayonets. Heavy cannon, for 
battering the British fortifications, Avere much 
wanted. There was but a small quantity of 

20 powder and ball, few tools to build intrenchments 
with, and a great deficiency of provisions and 
clothes for the soldiers. Yet, in spite of these 
perplexing difficulties, the eyes of the whole people 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 297 

were fixed on General Washington, expecting him 
to undertake some great enterprise against the 
hostile army. 

The first thing that he found necessary was to 
bring his own men into better order and discipline. 
It is wonderful how soon he transformed this 
rough mob of country people into the semblance ^ 
of a regular army. One of Washington's most 
invaluable characteristics was the faculty of bring- 
ing order out of confusion. All business with lo 
which he had any concern seemed to regulate 
itself as if by magic. The influence of his mind 
was like light gleaming through an unshaped 
world. It was this faculty, more than any other, 
that made him so fit to ride upon the storm of the 
Revolution when everything was unfixed and 
drifting about in a troubled sea. 

" Washington had not been long at the head of 
the army," proceeded Grandfather, " before his 
soldiers thought as highly of him as if he had led 20 
them to a hundred victories. They knew that he 
was the very man whom the countr}^ needed, and 

1 Semblance : the appearance, something that resembles. 



298 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

the only one who could bring them safely through 
the great contest against the might of England. 
They put entire confidence in his courage, wisdom, 
and integrity." 

" And were they not eager to follow him against 
the British ? " asked Charley. 

" Doubtless they would have gone whitherso- 
ever his sword pointed the way," answered Grand- 
father ; " and Washington was anxious to make a 
10 decisive assault upon the enemy. But as the 
' enterprise was very hazardous, he called a council 
of all the generals in the army. Accordingly they 
came from their different posts, and were ushered 
into the reception-room. The commander-in-chief 
arose from our great chair to greet them." 

" What were their names ? " asked Charley. 

'' There was General Artemas Ward," replied 
Grandfather, "a lawyer by profession. He had 
commanded the troops before Washington's arrival. 
20 Another was General Charles Lee, who had been 
a colonel in the English army, and was thought 
to possess vast military science. He came to the 
council, followed by two or three dogs which were 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 299 

always at his heels. There was General Putnam, 
too, who was known all over New England by the 
name of Old Put." 

" Was it he who killed the wolf ? " inquired 
Charley. 

" The same," said Grandfather ; " and he had 
done good service in the old French War. His 
occupation was that of a farmer ; but he left his 
plough in the furrow at the news of Lexington 
battle. Then there was General Gates, who after- lo 
ward gained great renown at Saratoga, and lost it 
again at Camden. General Greene, of Rhode 
Island, was likewise at the council. Washington 
soon discovered him to be one of the best officers 
in the army." 

When the generals were all assembled, Wash- 
ington consulted them about a plan for storming 
the English batteries. But it was their unani- 
mous opinion that so perilous an enterprise ought 
not to be attempted. The army, therefore, con- 20 
tinned to besiege Boston, preventing the enemy 
from obtaining supplies of provisions, but without 
taking any immediate measures to get possession 



300 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

of the town. In this manner the summer, autumn, 
and winter passed away. 

" Many a night, doubtless," said Grandfather, 
" after Washington had been all day on horseback, 
galloping from one post of the army to another, 
he used to sit in our great chair, wrapt in earnest 
thought. Had you seen him, you might have 
supposed that his whole mind was fixed on the 
blue china tiles which adorned the old-fashioned 
10 fireplace. But, in reality, he was meditating how 
to capture the British army, or drive it out of 
Boston. Once, when there was a hard frost, he 
formed a scheme to cross the Charles River on the 
ice. But the other generals could not be per- 
suaded that there was any prospect of suc- 
cess." 

" What were the British doing all this time ? " 
inquired Charley. 

" They lay idle in the town," replied Grand- 
20 father. '' General Gage had been recalled to Eng- 
land, and was succeeded by Sir William Howe. 
The British army and the inhabitants of Boston 
were now in great distress. Being shut up in the 



GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 301 

town SO long, they had consumed almost all their 
provisions and burned up all their fuel. The 
soldiers tore down the Old North Church, and 
used its rotten boards and timbers for firewood. 
To heighten their distress, the small-pox broke 
out. They probably lost far more men by cold, 
hunger, and sickness than had been slain at Lex- 
ington and Bunker Hill." 

" What a dismal time for the poor women and 
children ! " exclaimed Clara. lo 

" At length," continued Grandfather, 'i in March, 
1776, General Washington, who had now a good 
supply of powder, began a terrible cannonade and 
bombardment from Dorchester Heights.^ One of 
the cannon-balls which he fired into the town 
struck the tower of the Brattle Street Church, 
where it may still be seen. Sir William Howe 
made preparations to cross over in boats and drive 
the Americans from their batteries, but was pre- 
vented by a violent gale and storm. General 20 
Washington next erected a battery on Nook's 

1 Dorchester Heights : an elevated area of land just south of 
Boston, now a part of the city. 



302 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

Hill, SO near the enemy that it was impossible for 
them to remain in Boston any longer." 

" Hurrah ! Hurrah ! " cried Charley, clapping 
his hands triumphantly. " I wish I had been there 
to see how sheepish the Englishmen looked." 

And as Grandfather thought that Boston had 
never witnessed a more interesting period than 
this, when the royal power was in its death agony, 
he determined to take a peep into the towm and 
10 imagine the feelings of those who were quitting it 
forever. . 



CHAPTER XXX 

" Alas for the poor tories ! " said Grandfather. 
" Until the very last morning after Washington's 
troops had shown themselves on Nook's Hill, these 
unfortunate persons could not believe that the 
audacious rebels, as they called the Americans, 
would ever prevail against King George's army. 
But when they saw the British soldiers preparing 
to embark on board of the ships of war, then they 
knew that they had lost their country. Could the 
patriots have known how bitter were their regrets, lo 
they would have forgiven them all their evil deeds, 
and sent a blessing after them as they sailed away 
from their native shore." 

In order to make the children sensible of the piti- 
able condition of these men. Grandfather singled 
out Peter Oliver, chief justice of Massachusetts 
under the crown, and imagined him walking 

303 



304 GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 

through the streets of Boston on the morning be- 
fore he left it forever. 

This effort of Grandfather's fancy may be called 

THE Tory's farewell 

Old Chief Justice Oliver threw on his red cloak, 
and placed his three-cornered hat on the top of his 
white wig. In this garb he intended to go forth 
and take a parting look at objects that had been 
familiar to him from his youth. Accordingly, he 
began his walk in the north part of the town, and 
10 soon came to Faneuil Hall. This edifice, the cradle 
of liberty, had been used by the British officers as 
a playhouse. 

" Would that I could see its walls crumble to 
dust! " thought the chief justice ; and, in the bit- 
terness of his heart, he shook his fist at the famous 
hall. "There began the mischief, which now 
threatens to rend asunder the British empire. 
The seditious^ harangues^ of demagogues^ in 

1 Seditious : stirring up disorder, making a disturbance. 

2 Harangues : talks, addresses to the people. 

3 Demagogues : speakers, or leaders, who try to stir up the 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 305 

Faneuil Htall have made rebels of a loyal people 
and deprived me of my country." 

He then passed through a narrow avenue and 
found himself in King Street, almost on the very 
spot which, six years before, had been reddened by 
the blood of the Boston massacre. The cjiief jus- 
tice stepped cautiously, and shuddered, as if he 
were afraid that, even now, the gore of his slaugh- 
tered countrymen might stain his feet. 

Before him rose the Town House, on the front lo 
of which were still displayed the royal arms. 
Within that edifice he had dispensed justice to the 
people in the days when his name was never men- 
tioned without honor. There, too, was the bal- 
cony whence the trumpet had been sounded and 
the proclamation read to an assembled multitude, 
whenever a new king of England ascended the 
throne. 

" I remember — I remember," said Chief Justice 
Oliver to himself, " when his present most sacred 20 
Majesty was proclaimed. Then how the people 

people by appealing to their ignorance, or their prejudices. Al- 
ways used in a bad sense. 



306 GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 

shouted ! Each man would have poured out his 
life-blood to keep a hair of King George's head 
from harm. But now there is scarcely a tongue in 
all New England that does not imprecate curses on 
his name. It is ruin and disgrace to love him. 
Can it be possible that a few fleeting years have 
wrought such a change ? " 

It did not occur to the chief justice that nothing 
but the most grievous tyranny could so soon have 
changed the people's hearts. Hurrying from the 
spot, he entered Cornhill, as the lower part of 
Washington Street was then called. Opposite to 
the Town House was the waste foundation of the 
Old North Church. The sacrilegious^ hands of 
the British soldiers had torn it down, and kindled 
their barrack fires with the fragments. 

Farther on he passed beneath the tower of the 

Old South. The threshold of this sacred edifice 

was worn by the iron tramp of horses' feet ; for 

20 the interior had been used as a riding-school and 

1 Sacrilegious : wicked, especially with reference to any im- 
proper thing done against buildings or other sacred objects used 
for religious purposes. 



GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 307 

rendezvous^ for a regiment of dragoons.^ As the 
chief justice lingered an instant at the door a trum- 
pet sounded within, and the regiment came clatter- 
ing forth and galloped down the street. They 
were proceeding |o the place^f embarkation. 

" Let them go ! " thought the chief justice, with 
somewhat of an old Puritan feeling in his breast. 
" No good can come of men who desecrate the 
house of God." 

He went on a few steps farther, and paused lo 
before the Province House. No range of brick 
stores had then sprung up to hide the mansion of 
the royal governors from public view. It had a 
spacious courtyard, bordered with trees, and en- 
closed with a wrought-iron fence. On the cupola 
that surmounted the edifice was tlie gilded figure 
of an Indian chief, ready to let fly an arrow from 
his bow. Over the wide front door was a balcony 
in which the chief justice had often stood when 
the governor and high officers of the province 20 
showed themselves to the people. 

While Chief Justice Oliver gazed sadly at the 
1 Rendezvous : gathering place. '^ Dragoons : body of cavalry. 



308 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

Province House, before which a sentinel was pac- 
ing, the double leaves of the door were thrown 
open, and Sir William Howe made his appearance. 
Behind him came a throng of officers, whose steel 
scabbards clattered ;against the stones as they has- 
tened down the court-yard. Sir William Howe 
was a dark-complexioned man, stern and haughty 
in his deportment. He stepj)ed as proudly in that 
hour of defeat as if he were going to receive the 
10 submission of the rebel general. 

The chief justice bowed and accosted him. 

" This is a grievous hour for both of us, Sir 
William," said he. 

" Forward ! gentlemxcn," said Sir William Howe 
to the officers who attended him ; " we have no 
time to hear lamentations now." 

And, coldly bowing, he departed. Thus the 
chief justice had a foretaste of the mortifications 
which the exiled New-Englanders afterwards suf- 
aofered from the haughty Britons. They were 
despised even by that country which they had 
served more faithfully than their own. 

A still heavier trial awaited Chief Justice Oliver, 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 309 

as he passed onward from the Province House. 
He was recognized by the people in the street. 
They had long known him as the descendant of 
an ancient and honorable family. They had seen 
him sitting in his scarlet robes upon the jvidgment- 
seat. All his life long, either for the sake of his 
ancestors or on account of his own dignified station 
and unspotted character, he had been held in high 
respect. The old gentry of the province were 
looked upon almost as noblemen while Massachu- lo 
setts was under royal government. 

But now all hereditary reverence for birth and 
rank was gone. The inhabitants shouted in deri- 
sion when they saw the venerable form of the old 
chief justice. They laid the wrongs of the coun- 
try and their own sufferings during the siege — 
their hunger, cold, and sickness — partly to his 
charge and to that of his brother Andrew and his 
kinsman Hutchinson. It was by their advice that 
the king had acted in all the colonial troubles. 20 
But the day of recompense ^ was to come. 

1 Recompense : paying back, used in this sense not in an 
agreeable way. 



310 GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 

" See the old tory ! " cried the people, with 
bitter laughter. ^' He is taking his last look at 
US. Let him show his white wig among us an 
hour hence, and we'll give him a coat of tar and 
feathers ! " 

The chief justice, however, knew that he need 
fear no violence so long as the British troops were 
in possession of the town. But, alas ! it was a 
bitter thought that he should leave no loving mem- 

loory behind him. His forefathers, long after their 
spirits left the earth, had been honored in the 
affectionate remembrance of the people. But he, 
who would henceforth be dead to his native land, 
would have no epitaph save scornful and vindic- 
tive ^ words. The old man wept. 

" They curse me, they invoke all kinds of evil 
on my head ! " thought he, in the midst of his 
tears. " But, if they could read my heart, they 
would know that I love New England well. 

20 Heaven bless her, and bring her again under the 
rule of our gracious king ! A blessing, too, on 
these poor, misguided people ! " 

1 Vindictive : harsh, cruel, revengeful. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 311 

The chief justice flung out his hands with a 
gesture, as if he were bestowing a parting bene- 
diction on his countrymen. He had now reached 
the southern portion of the town, and was far within 
the range of cannon-shot from the American bat- 
teries. Close beside him was the broad stump of 
a tree, which appeared to have been recently cut 
down. Being weary and heavy at heart, he was 
about to sit down upon the stump. 

Suddenly it flashed upon his reflection that this lo 
was the stump of Liberty Tree I The British 
soldiers had cut it down, vainly boasting that 
they could as easily overthrow the liberties of 
America. Under its shadowy branches, ten years 
before, the brother of Chief Justice Oliver had 
been compelled to acknowledge the suprem- 
acy ^ of the people by taking the oath which 
they prescribed. 2 This tree w^as connected with 
all the events that had severed America from 
England. 20 

1 Supremacy : highest power ; that is, that the power of the 
people was higher than that of the king. 

2 Prescribed : required, insisted upon. 



312 GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 

" Accursed tree ! " cried the chief justice, gnash- 
ing his teeth ; for anger overcame his sorrow. 
" Would that thou hadst been left standing till 
Hancock, Adams, and every other traitor, were 
hanged upon thy branches ! Then fitly might- 
est thou have been hewn down and cast into the 
flames." 

He turned back, hurried to Long Wharf with- 
out looking behind him, embarked with the 

10 British troops for Halifax, and never saw his 
country more. Throughout the remainder of his 
days Chief Justice Oliver was agitated with those 
same conflicting emotions that had tortured him 
while taking his farewell walk through the streets 
of Boston. Deep love and fierce resentment 
burned in one flame within his breast. Anathe- 
mas ^ struggled with benedictions. ^ He felt as 
if one breath of his native air would renew his 
life, yet would have died rather than breathe the 

20 same air with rebels. And such likewise were 
the feelings of the other exiles, a thousand in 

1 Anathemas : curses. 

2 Benedictions : blessings, expressions of good-will. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 313 

number, who departed with the British army. 
Were they not the most unfortunate of men ? 

" The misfortunes of those exiled tories," ob- 
served Laurence, " must have made them think of 
the poor exiles of Acadia." 

" They had a sad time of it, I suppose," said 
Charley. " But I choose to rejoice with the 
patriots, rather than be sorrowful with the tories. 
Grandfather, what did General Washington do 
now ? " 10 

" As the rear of the British army embarked 
from the wharf," replied Grandfather, " General 
Washington's troops marched over the Neck, 
through the fortification gates, and entered Bos- 
ton in triumph. And now, for the first time 
since the Pilgrims landed, Massachusetts was free 
from the dominion of England. May she never 
again be subjected to foreign rule, — never again 
feel the rod of oppression ! " 

"Dear Grandfather," asked little Alice, "did 20 
General Washington bring our chair back to 
Boston?" 

" I know not how long the chair remained at 



314 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

Cambridge," said Grandfather. " Had it stayed 
there till this time, it could not have found a 
better or more appropriate shelter. The mansion 
which General Washington occupied is still stand- 
ing, and his apartments have since been tenanted 
by several eminent men. Governor Everett, 
while a professor in the University, resided there. 
So at an after period did Mr. Sparks, whose in- 
valuable labors ^ have connected his name with the 
lo immortality of Washington. And at this very 
time a venerable friend and contemporary of 
your Grandfather, after long pilgrimages beyond 
the sea, has set up his staff of rest at Washington's 
headquarters." 

"You mean Professor Longfellow, Grand- 
father," said Laurence. " Oh, how I should love 
to see the author of those beautiful Voices of 
THE Night ! " 

" We will visit him next summer," answered 
Grandfather, " and take Clara and little Alice 
with us, — and Charley, too, if he will be quiet." 

1 Jared Sparks wrote a Life of Washington. 



CHAPTER XXXI 

When Grandfather resumed his narrative the 
next evening, he told the children that he had 
some difficulty in tracing the movements of the 
chair during a short period after General Wash- 
ington's departure from Cambridge. 

Within a few months, however, it made its 
appearance at a shop in Boston, before the door 
of which was seen a striped pole. In the interior 
was displayed a stuffed alligator, a rattlesnake's 
skin, a bundle of Indian arrows, an old-fashioned lo 
matchlock gun, a walking-stick of Governor Win- 
throp's, a wig of old Cotton Mather's, and a 
colored print of the Boston massacre. In short, 
it was a barber's shop, kept by a Mr. Pierce, 
who prided himself on having shaved General 
Washington, Old Put, and many other famous 
persons. 

" This was not a very dignified situation for our 

315 



316 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

venerable chair," continued Grandfather; "but, 
you know, there is no better place for news than 
a barber's shop. All the events of the Revolu- 
tionary War were heard of there sooner than 
anywhere else. People used to sit in the chair, 
reading the newspaper, or talking, and waiting to 
be shaved, while Mr. Pierce, with his scissors and 
razor, was at work upon the heads or chins of his 
other customers." 

10 " I am sorry the chair could not betake itself to 
some more suitable place of refuge," said Laj- 
rence. " It was old now, and must have longed 
for quiet. Besides, after it had held Washington 
in its arms, it ought not to have been compelled 
to receive all the world. It should have been put 
into the pulpit of the Old South Church, or some 
other consecrated place." 

"Perhaps so," answered Grandfather. "But 
the chair, in the course of its varied existence, had 

20 grown so accustomed to general intercourse with 
society, that I doubt whether it would have con- 
tented itself in the pulpit of the Old South. 
There it would have stood solitary, or with no 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 317 

livelier companion than the silent organ, in the 
opposite gallery, six days out of seven. I incline 
to think that it had seldom been situated more to 
its mind than on the sanded floor of the snug little 
barber's shop." 

Then Grandfather amused his children and him- 
self with fancying all the different sorts of people 
who had occupied our chair while they awaited 
the leisure of the barber. 

There was the old clergyman, such as Dr. Chaun- lo 
cey, wearing a white wig, which the barber took 
from his head and placed upon a wig-block. Half 
an hour, perhaps, was spent in combing and pow- 
dering this reverend appendage ^ to a clerical 
skull. There, too, were officers of the continental 
army, who required their hair to be pomatumed ^ 
and plastered, so as to give them a bold and mar- 
tial aspect. There, once in a while, was seen the 
thin, care-worn, melancholy visage of an old tory, 

1 Appendage : something that is added to, annexed to, or 
attached to. Here it means his wig. 

2 Pomatumed : to be dressed with pomade, a perfumed 
ointment. 



318 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

with a wig that, in times long past, had perhaps 
figured at a Province House ball. And there, 
not unfrequently, sat the rough captain of a 
privateer, just returned from a successful cruise, 
in which he had captured half a dozen richly laden 
vessels belonging to King George's subjects. And 
sometimes a rosy little schoolboy climbed into our 
chair, and sat staring, with wide-open eyes, at the 
alligator, the rattlesnake, and the other curiosities 

10 of the barber's shop. His mother had sent him, 
with sixpence in his hand, to get his glossy curls 
cropped off. The incidents of the Revolution 
plentifully supplied the barber's customers with 
topics of conversation. They talked sorrowfully 
of the death of General Montgomery and the 
failure of our troops to take Quebec ; for the 
New-Englanders were now as anxious to get 
Canada from the English as they had formerly 
been to conquer it from the French. 

20 " But very soon," said Grandfather, " came news 
from Philadelphia, the most important that Amer- 
ica had ever heard of. On the 4th of July, 1776, 
Congress had signed the Declaration of Indepen- 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 319 

dence. The thirteen colonies were now free and 
independent States. Dark as onr prospects were, 
the inhabitants welcomed these glorious tidings, 
and resolved to perish rather than again bear the 
yoke of England." 

" And I w ould perish, too ! " cried Charley. 

" It was a great day, — a glorious deed ! " said 
Laurence, coloring high with enthusiasm. " And, 
Grandfather, I love to think that the sages in 
Congress showed themselves as bold and true as lo 
the soldiers in the field; for it must have required 
more courage to sign the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence than to fight the enemy in battle." 

Grandfather acquiesced ^ in Laurence's view of 
the matter. He then touched briefly and hastily 
upon the prominent events of the Revolution. 
The thunder-storm of war had now rolled south- 
ward, and did not again burst upon Massachu- 
setts, where its first fury had been felt. But she 
contributed her full share to the success of the 20 
contest. Wherever a battle was fought, — whether 
at Long Island, White Plains, Trenton, Princeton, 
1 Acquiesced : agreed with. 



320 GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 

Brandy wine, or Germantown, — some of her brave 
sons were found slain upon the field. 

In October, 1777, General Burgoyne surren- 
dered liis army, at Saratoga, to the American 
general. Gates. The captured troops were sent to 
Massachusetts. Not long afterwards Dr. Franklin 
and other American commissioners made a treaty 
at Paris, by which France bound herself to assist 
our countrymen. The gallant Lafayette was al- 
io ready fighting for our freedom by the side of 
Washington. In 1778 a French fleet, commanded 
by Count d'Estaing, spent a considerable time in 
Boston Harbor. It marks the vicissitudes of hu- 
man affairs, that the French, our ancient enemies, 
should come hither as comrades and brethren, and 
that kindred England should be our foe. 

"While the war was raging in the Middle and 
Southern States," proceeded Grandfather, " Massa- 
chusetts had leisure to settle a new constitution of 
20 government instead of the royal charter. This 
was done in 1780. In the same year John Han- 
cock, who had been president of Congress, was 
chosen governor of the State. He was the first 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 321 

whom the people had elected since the days of old 
Simon Bradstreet." 

'* But, Grandfather, who had been governor 
since the British were driven away ? " inquired 
Laurence. " General Gage and Sir William Howe 
were the last whom you have told us of." 

" There had been no governor for the last four 
years," replied Grandfather. " Massachusetts had 
been ruled by the Legislature, to whom the people 
paid obedience of their own accord. It is one of ic 
the most remarkable circumstances in our history, 
that, when the charter government was overthrown 
by the war, no anarchy ^ nor the slightest confu- 
sion ensued. This was a great honor to the people. 
But now Hancock was proclaimed governor by 
sound of trumpet ; and there was again a settled 
government." 

Grandfather again adverted ^ to the progress of 
the war. In 1781 General Greene drove the Brit- 
ish from the Southern States. In October of the 20 

1 Anarchy means strictly a lack of government ; here it means 
disorder, confusion. 

2 Adverted : turned his attention to. 

T 



322 GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 

same year General Washington compelled Lord 
Cornwallis to surrender his army, at Yorktown, in 
Virginia. This was the last great event of the 
Revolutionary contest. King George and his min- 
isters perceived that all the might of England 
could not compel America to renew her allegiance 
to the crown. After a great deal of discussion, a 
treaty of peace was signed in September, 1783. 

" Now, at last," said Grandfather, " after weary 
lo years of war, the regiments of Massachusetts re- 
turned in peace to their families. Now the stately 
and dignified leaders, such as General Lincoln and 
General Knox, with their powdered hair and their 
uniforms of blue and buff, were seen moving about 
the streets." 

" And little boys ran after them, I suppose," re- 
marked Charley ; "and the grown people bowed 
respectfully." 

" They deserved respect ; for they were good 

20 men as well as brave," answered Grandfather. 

" Now, too, the inferior officers and privates came 

home to seek some peaceful occupation. Their 

friends remembered them as slender and smooth- 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 323 

cheeked young men ; but they returned with the 
erect and rigid mien of disciplined soldieis. Some 
hobbled on crutches and wooden legs ; others had 
received wounds, which were still rankling in their 
breasts. Many, alas ! had fallen in battle," and 
perhaps were left unburied on the bloody field." 

" The country must have been sick of war," ob- 
served Laurence. 

" One would have thought so," said Grandfather. 
" Yet only two or three years elapsed before the lo 
folly of some misguided men caused another 
mustering of soldiers. This affair was called 
Shays's war, because a Captain Shays was the chief 
leader of the insurgents." 

" Oh, Grandfather, don't let there be another 
war ! " cried little Alice, piteously. 

Grandfather comforted his dear little girl by 
assuring her that there was no great mischief done. 
Shays's war happened in the latter part of 1786 
and the beginning of the following year. Its 20 
principal cause was the badness of times. The 
State of Massachusetts, in its public capacity, was 
very much in debt. So likewise were many of the 



324 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

people. An insurrection took place, the object of 
which seems to have been to interrupt the course 
of law and get rid of debts and taxes. 

James Bowdoin, a good and able man, was now 
governor of Massachusetts. He sent General 
Lincoln, at the head of four thousand men, to put 
down the insurrection. This general, who had 
fought through several hard campaigns in the 
Revolution, managed matters like an old soldier, 

10 and totally defeated the rebels at the expense of 
very little blood. 

" There is but one more public event to be 
recorded in the history of our chair," proceeded 
Grandfather. " In the year 1794 Samuel Adams 
was elected governor of Massachusetts. I have 
told you what a distinguished patriot he was, and 
how much he resembled the stern old Puritans. 
Could the ancient freemen of Massachusetts who 
lived in the days of the first charter have arisen 

20 from their graves, they would probably have voted 
for Samuel Adams to be governor." 

" Well, Grandfather, I hope he sat in our chair," 
said Clara. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 325 

" He did," replied Grandfather. '' He had long 
been in the habit of visiting the barber's shop, 
where our venerable chair, philosophically forget- 
ful of its former dignities, had now spent nearly 
eighteen not uncomfortable years. Such a remark- 
able piece of furniture, so evidently a relic of 
long-departed times, could not escape the notice 
of Samuel Adams. He made minute researches 
into its history, and ascertained what a succession 
of excellent and famous people had occupied it." lo 

''How did he find it out?" asked Charley ; ''for 
I suppose the chair could not tell its own history." 

" There used to be a vast collection of ancient 
letters and other documents in the tower of the 
Old South Church," answered Grandfather. 
" Perhaps the history of our chair was contained 
among these. At all events, Samuel Adams 
appears to have been well acquainted with it. 
When he became governor, he felt that he could 
have no more honorable seat than that which had 20 
been the ancient chair of state. He therefore 
purchased it for a trifle, and filled it worthily for 
three years as governor of Massachusetts." 



326 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

"And what next ? " asked Charley. 

''That is all," said Grandfather, heaving a sigh; 
for he could not help being a little sad at the 
thought that his stories must close here. " Samuel 
Adams died in 1803, at the age of above threescore 
and ten. He was a great patriot, but a poor man. 
At his death he left scarcely property enough to 
pay the expenses of his funeral. This precious 
chair, among his other effects, was sold at auction ; 
10 and your Grandfather, who was then in the 
strength of his years, became the purchaser." 

Laurence, with a mind full of thoughts that 
struggled for expression but could find none, 
looked steadfastly at the chair. 

He had now learned all its history, yet was not 
satisfied. 

" Oh, how I wish that the chair could speak ! " 
cried he. " After its long intercourse with man- 
kind, — after looking upon the world for ages, — 
20 what lessons of golden wisdom it might utter ! 
It might teach a private person how to lead a good 
and happy life, or a statesman how to make his 
country prosperous." 



CHAPTER XXXII 

Grandfather was struck by Laurence's idea 
that the historic chair should utter a voice, and 
thus pour forth the collected wisdom of two 
centuries. The old gentleman had once pos- 
sessed no inconsiderable ^ share of fancy ; and 
even now its fading sunshine occasionally glim- 
mered among his more sombre reflections. 

As the history of his chair had exhausted all 
his facts, Grandfather determined to have re- 
course 2 to fable. So, after warning the children lo 
that they must not mistake this story for a true 
one, he related what we shall call 

1 Inconsiderable : small. 

2 Recourse : a thing or place to go to for help in trouble. In 
this case the grandfather determined to go to fable to help him 
out of the trouble of not knowing just how to finish his 
story. 

327 



328 grandfather's chair 

grandfather's dream 

Laurence and Clara, where were you last night? 
Where were you, Charley, and dear little Alice? 
You had all gone to rest, and left old Grandfather 
to meditate alone in his great chair. The lamp 
had grown so dim that its light hardly illuminated 
the alabaster 1 shade. The wood-fire had crum- 
bled into heavy embers, among which the little 
flames danced, and quivered, and sported about 
like fairies. 

And here sat Grandfather all by himself. He 
knew that it was bedtime ; yet he could not help 
longing to hear your merry voices, or to hold a 
comfortable chat with some old friend; because 
then his pillow would be visited by pleasant 
dreams. But, as neither children nor friends 
were at hand. Grandfather leaned back in the 
great chair and closed his eyes, for the sake of 
meditating more profoundly. 

1 Alabaster : a white kind of limestone, frequently delicately 
marked, and nniQll used for ornaments, and useful household 
articles. 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 329 

And, when Grandfather's meditations had grown 
very profound indeed, he fancied that lie heard a 
sound over his head, as if somebody were pre^Dar- 
ing to speak. 

" Hem ! " it said in a dry, husky tone. " H-e-m ! 
Hem ! " 

As Grandfather did not know that any person 
was in the room, he started up in great surprise, 
and peeped hither and thither, behind the chair, 
and into the recess by the fireside, and at the dark lo 
nook yonder near the bookcase. Nobody coukl he 
see. 

" Poh ! " said Grandfather to^ himself, " I must 
have been dreaming." 

But, just as he was going to resume his seat, 
Grandfather happened to look at the great chair. 
The rays of fireliglit were flickering upon it in 
such a manner that it really seemed as if its oaken 
frame were all alive. What ! did it not move its 
elbow? There, too! It certainly lifted one of 20 
its ponderous fore legs, as if it had a notion of 
drawing itself a little nearer to the fire. Mean- 
while the lion's head nodded at Grandfather with 



330 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

as polite and sociable a look as a lion's visage, 
carved in oak, could possibly be expected to 
assume. Well, this is strange ! 

" Good evening, my old friend," said the dry 
and husky voice, now a little clearer than before. 
" We have been intimately acquainted so long 
that I think it high time we have a chat to- 
gether." 

Grandfather was looking straight at the lion's 
lohead, and could not be mistaken in supposing 
that it moved its lips. So here the mystery was 
all explained. 

" I was not awiare," said Grandfather, with a 
civil salutation to his oaken companion, " that you 
possessed the faculty of speech. Otherwise I 
should often have been glad to converse with 
such a solid, useful, and substantial if not brilliant 
member of societ}^" 

" Oh ! " replied the ancient chair, in a quiet and 
20 easy tone, for it had now cleared its throat of the 
dust of ages, " I am naturally a silent and incom- 
municative sort of character. Once or twice in 
the course of a century I unclose my lips. When 



GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 331 

the gentle Lady Arbella departed this life I uttered 
a o-roaii. When the honest mint-master Weighed 
his plump daughter against the pine-tree shillings 
I chuckled audibly at the joke. Wlien old Simon 
Bradstreet took the place of the tyrant Andros I 
joined in the general huzza, and capered on my 
wooden legs for joy. To be sure, the bystanders 
were so fully occupied with their own feelings 
that my sympathy was quite unnoticed." 

'' And have you often held a private chat with lo 
your friends?" asked Grandfather. 

'' Not often," answered the chair. " I once 
talked with Sir William Phipps, and communi- 
cated my ideas about the witchcraft delusion. 
Cotton Mather had several conversations with me, 
and derived great benefit from my historical 
reminiscences. In the days of the Stamp Act 
I whispered in the ear of Hutchinson, bidding 
him to remember what stock his countrymen were 
descended of, and to think whether the spirit of 20 
their forefathers had utterly departed from them. 
The last man whom I favored with a colloquy was 
that stout old republican,. Samuel Adams." 



332 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

" And how happens it," inquired Grandfather, 
" that there is no record nor tradition of your 
conversational abilities? It is an uncommon thing 
to meet with a chair that can talk." 

" Why, to tell you the truth," said the chair, giv- 
ing itself a hitch nearer to the hearth, " I am not 
apt to choose the most suitable moments for un- 
closing my lips. Sometimes I have inconsiderately 
begun to speak, when my occupant, lolling back 

10 in my arms, was inclined to take an after-dinner 
nap. Or perhaps the impulse to talk may be felt 
at midnight, when tJie lamp burns dim and the 
fire crumbles into decay, and the studious or 
thoughtful man finds that his brain is in a mist. 
Oftenest I have unwisely uttered my wisdom in 
the ears of sick persons, when the inquietude 
of fever made them toss about upon my cushion. 
And so it hapj^ens, that though my words make a 
pretty strong impression at the moment, yet my 

20 auditors invariably remember them only as a 
dream. I should not wonder if you, my excel- 
lent friend, were to do the same to-morrow 
morning." 



GRANDFATHER^ S CHAIR 333 

" Nor I either," thought Grandfather to himself. 

However, he thanked this respectable old chair, 
for beginning the conversation, and begged to 
know whether it had anything particular to com- 
municate. 

" I have been listening attentively to your nar- 
rative of my adventures," replied the chair ; " and 
it must be owned that your correctness entitles 
you to be held up as a pattern to biographers. 
Nevertheless, there are a few omissions which I lo 
should be glad to see supplied. For instance, you 
make no mention of the good knight Sir Richard 
Saltonstall, nor of the famous Hugh Peters, nor 
of those old regicide judges, Whalley, Goffe, and 
Dixwell. Yet I have borne the weight of all those 
distinguished characters at one time or another." 

Grandfather promised amendment if ever he 
should have an opportunity to repeat his narra- 
tive. The good old chair, which still seemed to 
retain a due regard for outward appearance, then 20 
reminded him how long a time had passed since it 
had been provided with a new cushion. It like- 
wise expressed the opinion that the oaken figures 



334 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR 

on its back would show to much better advantage 
by the aid of a little varnish. 

" And I have had a complaint in this joint," 
continued the chair, endeavoring to lift one of its 
legs, " ever since Charley trundled his wheelbarrow 
against me." 

"It shall be attended to," said Grandfather. 
" And now, venerable chair, I have a .favor to 
solicit. During an existence of more than two 
10 centuries you have had a familiar intercourse with 
men who were esteemed the wisest of their day. 
Doubtless, with your capacious^ understanding, 
you have treasured up many an invaluable lesson 
of wisdom. You certainly have had time enough 
to guess the riddle of life. Tell us, poor mortals, 
then, how we may be happy." 

The lion's head fixed its eyes thoughtfully upon 
the fire, and the whole chair assumed an aspect of 
deep meditation. Finally it beckoned to Grand- 
20 father with its elbow, and made a step sideways 
toward him, as if it had a very important secret 
to communicate. 

1 Capacious : large, able to hold a great deal. 



grAj^dfather's chair 335 

"As long as I have stood in the midst of human 
affairs," said the chair, with a very oracular ^ 
enunciation,'-^ " I have constantly observed that 
Justice, Truth, and Love are the chief ingredi- 
ents^ of every happy life." 

" Justice, Truth, and Love ! " exclaimed Grand- 
father. " We need not exist two centuries to 
find out that these qualities are essential^ to our 
happiness. This is no secret. Every human 
being is born with the instinctive ^ knowledge of lo 
it." 

" Ah ! " cried the chair, drawing back in sur- 
prise. " From what I have observed of the deal- 
ings of man with man, and nation with nation, I 
never should have suspected that they knew this 
all-important secret. And, with this eternal lesson 
written in your soul, do you ask me to sift new 

1 Oracular: in a wise and solemn manner, like an oracle. Look 
up the word "oracle" in the large dictionary. 

'■^ Enunciation : expression. 

^ Ingredients : the ingredients of any mixture are the things 
that enter into its makeup, as the ingredients of cake are flour, 
sugar, eggs, etc. 

* Essential : necessary. ^ Instinctive : inborn, natural. 



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Byron's Childe Harold. Edited by A. J. George, High School, Newton, 

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Carlyle's Essay on Burns, with Selections. Edited by Willard C. 
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Irving's Life of Goldsmith. Edited by Gilbert Sykes Blakely, 
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living's Sketch Book. 

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Foe's Poems. Edited by Charles W. Kent, Linden Kent Memorial 
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Shakespeare's Hamlet. Edited by L. A. Sherman, Professor of English 
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Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Edited by George W. Hufford and Lois 
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Tennyson's Idylls of the King. Edited by W. T. Vlymen, Principal of 
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Tennyson's Shorter Poems. Edited by Charles Read Nutter, In- 
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John Woolman's Journal. 

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